Videos for the Classroom: What About Prejudice (1959)

I love these hokey 1950s educational films–the sincere morals, the clear messages, the sea of perfectly coiffed Caucasian youngsters.

Our good friends at the Social Studies and History Teachers blog had released this 1959 doozy to their readers, and its worth a look here at the Neighborhood.  This McGraw-Hill film What About Prejudice chronicles the trials of Bruce Jones, an outsider who we never see from the waist up.  For whatever reason–ethnic, racial, socio-economic–the other students at this high school shun and castigate Bruce due to their own prejudices.  It isn’t until one selfless act that the students finally overcome their preconceived notions and accept Bruce as an equal.

I know, this is so bad it gives the word “corny” a bad name.  Yet students who watch this can analyze how feasible it is for them to (a) accept someone like Bruce, or (b) change their mindset after one event.

Real life is rarely as neat and Brylcreemed as a school filmstrip.  Enjoy.