My initial reactions to the videos was good! They are getting a real education, I did feel a little torn though because her lesson was needed but even third graders exhibited poor behaviors and even physically lashed out. What did bother me is when the parents were watching they laughed when, to there children, the lack of special treatment was very real and hurtful. It made me angry because fearing and/or hating another specific group of people is a learned behaviors and instead, as adults, of doing something about it, we laugh because it's uncomfortable but we don't question why it's uncomfortable for us or turn the situation around and ask how we would feel if we were in another person's place.
I think the halo and horn effects as well as attribution and confirmation bias were going on throughout the video. I also think that if the experiment had gone on longer you would have seen more conformity bias, even if you do not agree, we conform to the majorities thinking so we save ourselves from being singled out. We do this so much as adults. Sometimes it keeps me from speaking out. I don't activity participate, laugh at or condone poor behavior. But sometimes it's very hard for me to speak up and out against it because I know in certain situations I am putting myself in a very vulnerable position and could be exposing myself to ridicule and harm. But now that I think about it, aren't black people and people who are seem differently in harms way, every day. I need to be better and shut it down. It's unacceptable.
