I recently read, for the first time, about the Peckham Experiments.
What, you ask, were those?
Well I’m glad you asked!
The Peckham Experiments have been a series of “experiments” on the effects of social solidarity and access to physical activity on a socioeconomically disadvantaged group (the “Peckham” region of London).
What happens, the originators asked, when a “deprived” group of people are given a place where they can have access to sporting events, physical health monitoring, and other workshops, at a very very low cost?
Very good things – that’s what!
People begin to organize themselves into small groups to achieve creative ends. Health indices go up, and disease indices go down.
Everyone gets happier.
Shall we dance? Well...we are dancing!
This next “experiment” left me shocked and amazed. I hope you take the time to watch the entire 50-minute documentary about this incredible woman, and her experiment.
The incredible woman is Jane Elliot, formerly a 3rd-grade teacher in Riceville, IA. The experiment involved separating the children in her class into two groups – those with brown eyes and those with blue. Whichever group was judged to be “superior” on the first day was given special privileges, the other group had privileges taken away.
Why, you might ask, would someone do this? Ms. Elliot was moved by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to teach her schoolchildren about racism and prejudice – by having them experience it firsthand.
While her method would not fly today, watch the video and see what you think about it for yourself.
I think both of these experiments reveal a glimpse of the profound effect that small changes in our environment can have on us.
