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"It is without doubt a very valueable exercise, which students will not forget for the rest of their lives. I have to say though that my stomach sometimes did hurt from the harsh treatment you were giving our nice students. But then of course you don't know which students are nice or not nice and that is probably for the best! My Conclusion: Impressive, but HARD!" (High School History teacher).

"It was very meaningfull. The exercise was executed very convincingly. I found it 'again' very disturbing to see how a group of people, in this case children, in a very short time 'with pleasure' started to discriminate and ridicule another group. I will for certain talk with my students again about all this." (Grammar School Teacher)

"I think that it is a good, learning exercise. As a teacher I sometimes was really holding my breath. For me, a lenghty evaluation (also later at school) is necessary. For me, the exercise is not over yet." (High School Teacher Dutch)

PLEASE WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

"It is true, we see it happen, but whe don't do anything, we cooperate, beacuse who is silent, agrees. Only now I have noticed that it is this way. But then the big question stays what do you do about it? Make a stand as a person and Protest against it. That is what should be done, but you don't. Almost nobody does, and that is the problem. Because if all of us did, we could change it." (Barbara, 16 years old, Brown eyes)

"How easy it is to do nothing and by that allow racism". (Peter, 15 years old, Brown eyes)

"I have learned that racism leads to hate and I understand now why 'foreigners' sometimes react with much anger. We always say 'stupid foreigners' but it is us who started it" (Jildou, 15 years, Blue eyes)

"That a racist environment is very easy to create. Much more easy than I Thought. And that the effects for the minority are much worse than I could ever dream of. Can this exercise not be made a compulsory thing for everyone?" (Anna, 15 years old, Blue eyes)

Today I have learned what it is to be seen by others as a minority. I did not exepct that it would be so humiliating! In the end I really had the feeling a bit that I was inferior. I was against racism and discrimination already, but now I understand what it really is. (Aletta, 15 years, blue eyes)

"That you have to do more against it, even if you know people will try to shout you down, you just have to make a stand for others" (?, 17 years, Brown eyes)

"That today everyone was all of a sudden 'anti-racist' although I have heared many of those people make racist remarks and have seen them do racist things in daily life." (?, 16 years, brown eyes)

"I have learned today that people go along very quickly with somebody who has power and also that people allow that very quickly. One thing: at the 'tolerance-test' people said that Jehovah's witnesses are intolarant, I am a Jehovah's witness myself and I felt much discriminated because I know this is not true. And that for a anti-discrimination day!!! I disagree totally!" (Shirley, 16 years, blue eyes)

"I know now precisely how it feels. And I will make a stand more quick against racism as it happens near me." (Pascale, 17 years, blue eyes)

"Nothing what I did not know before. The next person who treats me like this I'm gonna hit in the face. (Mieg, 18 years, blue eyes)

"What it feels like if no-one cares for you". (Evelien, 16 years, blue eyes)

"You have to be more tolerant against others. I have been discriminated all my life, so I already knew how it feels. The Blue-eyed's will hopefully discriminate less now they know how it feels. (?, 14 years, brown eyes)

"I think it was very anti-social how the blue eyed's were treated. As this is how disrimination works, then I think about it differently now" (Tamara, 14 years, blue eyes)

"That you must not discriminate because it is just stupid. When you have experienced it yourself you look at it totally differentlty. Racims is no fun and you would not like it if you are the person who's discriminated." (Christian, 12 years, blue eyes)

"I have learned that the only one who can change me is myself, because I cannot give myself another eye colour, but I can give myself other opinions. I think it was very educational and nice". (Melissa, 12 years, brown eyes)

Because I was a 'Blue-eye' today, I felt how it is to be discriminated. I felt how terrible that is. And now, if anyone near to me discriminates, I will try do to something about it. (Jieskje, 12 years, blue eyes)

"I liked it, because now I wasn't discriminated, but the blue-eyed's. I learned that not everybody is the same and that you have to respect others. I am glad I was here. I enjoyed to have power for a change. But it is also very nice to be normal again and play with the blue eyed's" (Samantha, 13 years, brown eyes)

"I am a blue-eye and today I have felt what in fact discrimination is. And it is not a funny thing! I like to say something please: My father is jewish and he has lost all his family very bad! All gassed. But my father is very sweet. And I think it is very bad that people are discriminated! I had a boyfriend who had a dark skin colour. He has moved, that is very sad because he was very nice! And by the way I am not ashamed I have blue eyes. And I will always keep the stickers!" (Anna, 11 years, blue eyes)

"I have learned that it is not nice to be powerless. That you cannot make your own decisions and that you are forced to do things. It is not funny at all to be discriminated, because you feel very unpleasant." (?, 17 years, blue eyes).

"I think 'the game' today was very good to show and let feel how it is to be part of a minority, although I was a brown-eye myself (so I did not suffer). Only at the debriefing I realized that I, as a brown eye, had not wanted to make a stand for the blue-eyes. A very good lesson for me was that when it all started, I thought I would do that for sure, but during it all, it never really crossed my mind to do it." (Eline, 17 years, brown eyes)

"That I have to be carefull myself not to discriminate. You parrot what other people say. I will in future try not to do this. I think it is great what you are doing. I think it was a very good program that you all did. I am schocked a little by what I think of 'foreigners' myself. Especially those who have another colour. Those others (foreiners who are white) I always considered as not being foreign. Thanks!" (Afke, 17 years, brown eyes)

"What are those blue-eyes screaming about, I was really very suprised by that. I experience this all the time and worse than this." (Ahmed, 16 years, brown eyes)

"Not much, I was already against discrimation and that stuff. So for me it was just fun. I have learned though from that Turkish person that people who are discriminated are not amused by racist jokes etc." (Marieke, 16 years, brown eyes)

"That you must not close your eyes for racism. You have to take a stand for each other. Not think that someone else will do that and turn away. Change the world by beginning with changing yourself." (Jose, 17 years, brown eyes first, later blue eyes)

"Afterwards I think it was not so very bad. I learned that I was not so tolerant as I thought during the tolerance-test. But I was not extremely intolerant, hear! While they were selecting us in blue and brown eyes I saw the reactions. De blue-eyes were very subdued and silent. They were treated very shitty while I had in fact a good time. We were terated very nice." (Nelleke, 17 years, brown eyes)

"I already thought this way, so this day did not learn me anything new, but it reminds you what things happen sometimes. On Texel, our island, disrimi- nation is not so bad but it is most of the time a sub-conscious thing. It comes naturally. In the Cities, it is much worse. Over there, groups of people are really pitted against each other." (Ellen, 17 years, blue eyes)

"That discrimination has to do with power and white people have power. Why I don't now, maybe because whe dreamed-up slavery. I still think that thinking for yourself is the most importatnt thing and that we have learned that here." (?, 16 years, brown eyes)

"I was one of the blue-eyes today and I did not find that funny. I was very much (to my feeling) discriminated. Because we (the blue-eyed's) had to shut our mouth and stand still etc. The brown-eyes were treated well. I really understand that people who are discriminated must feel pretty pissed-off like I felt today. It was very much worth it." (Jardena, 16 years, blue eyes)

"Not to believe or copy everything what other people say about foreigners. That it is not nice to be discriminated. That is wat I experienced today because I have blue eyes." (Pieter, 17 years, blue eyes)

"That there are disadvantages in being different" (Ruud, 20 years, blue eyes)

"Through this project, you think more clearly about disrimination and racism. It becomes all very clear, especially during the evaluation in which also real-live examples where discussed. An advice: I think you should make the differences between blue eyes en brown eyes even bigger and by this making things stronger and clearer." (Ivo, 20 years, blue eyes)

"Discrimination is not good, after one day of discrimination you know sort of what it is. As a white person you really cannot fathom what it really is about. I have learned that there can be no reason at all to discriminate." (Mark, 19 years, blue eye)

"Not much I think. I thought we were not really discriminated. I thought it would be much worse. Like that man who with the 'animal-game' got a little angry, well he was right because we were not doing the best we could at all. In the discussion afterwards I think we learned the most. There you found out what others thought about it and you could really learn from that." (Natascha, 17 years, blue eyes)

"My eye colour is blue. You come to this boat and you see what happens. They make a difference between blue en brown eyes. You see that you are being bossed around and that the brown eyes are treated very sweetly. Yech, I thought. After everything was explained, I understood how it works. I felt humiliated, so I will never humiliate another person, because this feeling is very shitty."

"When you feel day by day what I today as a blue-eye felt (especially in the beginning of the day) then your live is rotten. Pure Shit! Racism is so very easy to do. Before you realize it happens. As a person, you are powerless, it makes moer sense to revolt together." (Marten, 18 years, blue eyes)

"A little how it is to be treated differently. Especially at the start, during the selection, I felt really discriminated" (Lenny, 18 years, blue eyes)

"It was a mess and it was a game but whe were fooled by it anyway" (?, 14 years, blue eye)

"The only thing I learned is that you do not treat a person like this if you don't want to be treated by other people like this." (?, 17 years, blue eyes)

"That discriminating is very easy when you are the majority or if you have a position of power. By giving people the feeling that they are in fact inferior you'll also make them accept this discrimination." (?, 16 years, brown eyes)

"When someone is being discriminated you have to oppose this and make a firm stand. So not only say that you are against it but also do what you say." (?, 16 years, brown eyes)

"I think it was really a good example, this blue and brown eyes thing. I did not do anything when I saw them 'pissing' on the blue-eyed's. Because I knew that it must be not real, and because, I think, that nobody did anything against it. It was a nice day anyway. I hope that it has made children who bully others all the time, think." (Ilont, 15 years, brown eyes)

"Many things about racism I already knew, but I think it was very good that the crew of the Zeester did this experiment to see how people would react. Like you saw that most kids did nothing against it or joined in. I was feeling sorry for the blue-eyed's! In real life you know it is no game and that it doesn't go away. That is the extra thing I have learned today." (?, 14 years, brown eyes)