Palo Alto High School April 1967.
Ben Ross a very gifted history teacher was showing his students a black and white film reel of Nazi Germany.
As the film ended the bell to signal the end of the lesson rang and everyone left the room.
2:40 am. Ben Ross lay awake, what disturbed him was he had failed to answer Lorrie's question.
If he could not answer a question then he was a failure.
If he was a failure he wondered if the students would still like him, if they would still respect him, and if they appreciated what he did for them.
THE NEXT DAY
The students entered the room and took their seats. Mr Ross explained to the class, today we will experience power ,control, and discipline.
The first demonstration that Mr Ross thought of was how to sit up straight while sitting still.
He wanted the class to place their hands on their lower backs and arch their spines.
His experiment was a success, but Mr Ross was not impressed.
Quote. (Mr Ross there are three rules that you must obey).
1 You must stand at the side of your seats.
2 When asking or answering a question your first words are Mr Ross.
3 When giving your answers make them as short as possible.
That evening Ben told his wife Christine about his experiments and how the class response was immediate.
She reminded him that their response was genuine but Christine was wrong.
Mr Ross entered his classroom, his students dutifully waiting.
He asks the class what they are feeling.
We feel disciplined was their answer.
Mr Ross gave his students a community, a salute, and a symbol.
He had gained movement direction and impact.
In the years to come they would be known as the Wave.
Palo Alto high school 1970
By now what had begun as a harmless idea had turned into a full blown school dictatorship.
All students and teachers were conscripted to wear pale blue uniforms, the symbol of the wave stamped over their hearts.
All usual school activities were band.
The male prefects were given permission to have gun licences.
If you were caught by a male prefect you were taken outside the school to be shot and killed.
The female prefects were given permission to use the sauna as a miniature gas chamber.
If you were caught by a female prefect you were to report to the sauna to be gassed and killed.
Some departments were still allowed to operate due to the Waves cause such as woodwork, metalwork, sewing and outdoor education.
The class assignment was to make coffins.
The metalwork class assignment was to make bullets.
The sewers were in charge of making and designing arm bands.
As for outdoor education that was narrowed down to three activities only.
Target shooting, an obstacle course and a military style march.
As for Mr Ross he had become a man driven by power, pride and self contemp.
On the last day of that year Mr Ben Ross was fired, and he never taught again.
In 1972 the school received word that their corrupted history teacher had taken his own life.
The Wave is the best short film ever made.
It also scored the most watched film in American TV. history.
I would rate this film one of the best films of my lifetime.
What happened to Ben Ross in 1967 could happen to anyone of us?
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