We look back at those crazy days in Europe 90 years ago. Good, decent, ordinary people in refined, well-educated nations such as Italy and Germany, abruptly descended into madness. They blindly followed fascists leaders who were bent on doing the most evil things imaginable. We scratch our heads and wonder how such a thing could happen. Perhaps you might shrug and say, “Well, that was then and there, but this is here and now. Such a thing couldn’t happen today — especially since we have public education on our side.”

Sorry to burst your bubble, but we need to tell you about a little thought experiment in a California classroom that turned a bunch of ordinary teenagers into fanatical fascists in just five days’ time. Join us as we take a look at The Third Wave.

Imagine, if you will, a typical school day in 1967, Palo Alto, California. A history teacher with a penchant for unconventional methods walked into his classroom and started a social experiment. That seemingly small event quickly spiraled so far out of control that he almost had to crown himself king of a high school dictatorship. The teacher was Ron Jones, the 25-year-old educator who unintentionally (or maybe a little intentionally) demonstrated just how quickly even the most ordinary group of people can fall head over heels for fascism. Spoiler: It took him less than five days.

Day One: Just a Little Game

It all started innocently enough. Ron Jones was trying to teach his students about the Holocaust. This is just 22 years after the end of World War II, so the events should have been fresh on everyone’s mind. That’s when a bright-eyed student asked a question that billions of people have asked: “How could the Germans just go along with all that? How could normal people let something so horrific happen?”

It was a good question, but it left Jones momentarily speechless. As he struggled to come up with an appropriate answer, the idea hit him like a third wave crashing on the shore (we’ll get to that metaphor in a minute). If he couldn’t explain it, he’d just have to show them. That’s how the experiment began.

The next day, Jones strolled into his class and wrote “Strength Through Discipline” on the chalkboard in bold, authoritative letters. He announced a new set of rules. The laid-back teacher morphed into a strict disciplinarian. Students had to sit up straight, answer questions in no more than three words, and preface every comment with “Mr. Jones.”

Jones had intended the experiment to last only one day. He was intrigued by what he saw, however, and decided to see where it would go. What started as a seemingly harmless exercise in discipline quickly evolved into something else entirely.

Day Two: All Hail Mr. Jones

To Jones’ surprise (and perhaps secret delight), the students showed up on Day Two still following the new rules. They even greeted him with a synchronized “Good Morning, Mr. Jones!”—a salute to their new authoritarian leader. Sensing an opportunity, Jones decided to push the envelope.

He added “Strength Through Community” to the chalkboard and introduced his students to “The Third Wave,” a fictional movement he claimed was inspired by surfing culture (you know, because the third wave is the strongest one surfers catch.Just like that, the students were hooked. Jones taught them a special salute—think Nazi salute, but with a surfer twist—and instructed them to use it whenever they saw another member, both in and out of school.

Jones, channeling his inner dictator, handed out special assignments to his students. Some designed banners, others were tasked with preventing non-members from entering the classroom, and a select few were given cards marked with a red X, making them official informants, or as Jones dubbed them, his “Gestapo.” The idea was simple: report anyone who stepped out of line.

Things started getting real when one student, Sherry Tousley, decided to ask a pesky little question: “Why can’t we say what we think?” Mr. Jones wasn’t having it. Tousley was promptly banished to the library, and the rest of the students were warned—question the movement, and you’re out.

Of course, Tousley wasn’t about to take this lying down. Teaming up with the school librarian, who had grown up in Nazi Germany, she and a few other outcasts formed their own resistance, “The Breakers.” They plastered anti-Third Wave posters all over the school. By morning, the posters were gone, torn down by the ever-vigilant Third Wave members. The movement was gaining momentum.

Day Three and Four: Things Get Out of Hand

By Day Three, the Third Wave was no longer just a classroom experiment. Jones’ class size had grown from 30 to 43. Jones, feeling a bit drunk with power, added “Strength Through Action” to the board and upped the ante. He instructed his students to recruit others. They did and with gusto. By the end of the day, Jones had 200 eager participants. Yes, you read that right—200 students under his command, ready to salute and report on each other like it was their job. One student assigned himself the role of Jones’ bodyguard and watched out for any threat that might take down their revered leader.

With power, as they say, comes corruption. Students who had been besties just days before were now ratting each other out for the smallest infractions. Fights broke out in the hallways. Jones held mock trials in class, doling out punishments based on the testimonies of his student Gestapo. It was like a twisted high school version of Lord of the Flies, but with more salutes and fewer pigs’ heads.

By Day Four, even Jones realized things were getting out of hand. The power trip was intoxicating, sure, but he could see the writing on the wall. The experiment was no longer just a teaching tool—it was a monster he’d created. It was time to end it, but not without one last dramatic twist.

Jones, ever the showman, wrote “Strength Through Pride” on the board and told his students that the Third Wave was real. Not just some classroom experiment, but a legitimate national movement designed to save the country from the bumbling Democrats and Republicans. He fed them a line about how democracy was weak because it idealized the individual, whereas the Third Wave idealized the community. His students, bless their hearts, ate it up.

He then announced that on Friday, a new Third Wave Presidential candidate would be revealed at a special event. It was to be televised, with over 1,000 participating schools tuning in. The only catch? Only Third Wave members were allowed to attend. Cue dramatic music.

Day Five: The Big Reveal

Friday arrived, and Jones’s students, now true believers, showed up early, eager to see their new leader. Jones had even convinced a few friends to pose as reporters to add an extra layer of authenticity to the ruse. The students, giddy with anticipation, marched into the sports hall chanting their now well-rehearsed slogans: “Strength Through Discipline! Strength Through Community! Strength Through Action!”

Jones stood at the front of the hall, reveling in the spectacle he’d created. He switched on the TV, ready to unveil the leader of the Third Wave. The room fell silent, all eyes on the screen. And then…nothing. Just static. The minutes ticked by, and still, nothing. The tension in the room was palpable, like a bomb waiting to go off.

Some students started to panic. Others sat in stunned silence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jones returned to the room. He looked at his students—200 teenagers who had so easily fallen under his spell—and told them the truth. There was no Third Wave. There never had been. It had all been an elaborate lesson, a living demonstration of how easily people could be led down the path of fascism.

To drive the point home, he showed them a film about the rise of the Nazi regime. The students watched in stunned silence, realizing they were no better than the Germans who had blindly followed Hitler. They had become exactly what they had once struggled to understand.

The Aftermath: A Lesson Learned?

Jones’s experiment didn’t just leave a mark on his students—it became a cultural phenomenon. Jones wrote about it in an essay that you can read here. The Third Wave has been immortalized in film, theater, and even a Netflix miniseries. It’s used in schools to this day to teach about the dangers of totalitarianism, a stark reminder that even the most civilized society can crumble under the weight of fascism.

Since then, Jones has faced his fair share of criticism. Many have questioned the ethics of his experiment and the trauma it inflicted on his students. When he came up for tenure two years later, he was denied.

Still, the lesson of the Third Wave remains as relevant as ever. In a world where totalitarianism is once again rearing its ugly head, Jones’s experiment serves as a chilling reminder of how easily the masses can be swayed. The need to belong, the comfort of community, and our instinctual subservience to authority—these are the building blocks of any totalitarian regime. And as Jones’s experiment so clearly shows, we’re not as immune to them as we’d like to think.

It also illustrates how powerful our public education system is and how easily it can be corrupted to brainwash naive little skulls full of mush.

The next time someone asks, “How could they let this happen?” remember Ron Jones and his little high school experiment. Because, as it turns out, it can happen anywhere—even in your neighborhood classroom.

It doesn’t take dramatic world events to create mindless, militant masses. It just takes is a few days, a chalkboard, and a well-timed salute to turn a bunch of teenagers into an army of little fascists.

Who says history class has to be boring?

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