The Wave

When the students arrived in class that day, there was a large poster in the back of the room with a blue wave symbol on it. They found Mr Ross dressed differently than usual. Where before he'd come to class in casual clothes, today he wore a blue suit, white shirt, and a tie. The students went quickly to their seats as their teacher walked up and down the aisles passing out small yellow cards.

Brad nudged Laurie. "It's not time for report cards," he whispered.

Laurie stared at the card she'd received. "It's a Wave membership card," she whispered back.

"What?" Brad hissed.

"All right." Mr Ross slapped his hands together loudly. "No talking."

Brad sat up straight in his seat. But Laurie understood his surprise. Membership cards? It must have been a joke. Meanwhile, Mr Ross had finished distributing the cards and stood in the front of the room.

"Now you will all have membership cards," Mr Ross announced. "If you turn them over you will find that some of them have been marked with a red X. If you have a red X you are to be a monitor, and you will report directly to me any members of The Wave who do not obey our rules."

Around the room students were scrutinizing their cards and turning them over to see if they had a red X. Those who had them, like Robert and Brian, were smiling. Those who didn't, like Laurie, seemed less pleased.

Laurie raised her hand.

"Yes, Laurie," Ben said.

"Uh, what's the point of this?" Laurie asked.

There was a silence around the room and Ben did not answer right away. Then he said, "Aren't you forget­ting something?"

"Oh, right." Laurie got up and stood next to her desk. "Mr Ross, what's the point of these cards?"

Ben had expected someone to question him on the cards. The reason for them would not be apparent imme­diately. For now he said, "It's just an example of how a group might monitor itself."

Laurie had no other questions, so Ben turned to the blackboard and added another word to "Strength Through Discipline, Strength Through Community'. Today's word was "Action'.

"Now that we understand Discipline and Community," he told the class, "Action is our next lesson. Ultimately, discipline and community are meaningless without action. Discipline gives you the right to action. A discip­lined group with a goal can take action to achieve it. They must take action to achieve it. Class, do you believe in The Wave?"

There was a split-second hesitation, and then the class rose in unison and answered in what seemed like a single voice. "Mr Ross, yes!"

Mr Ross nodded. "Then you must take action! Never be afraid to act on what you believe. As The Wave you must act together like a well-oiled machine. Through hard work and allegiance to each other, you will learn faster and accomplish more. But only if you support one another, and only if you work together and obey the rules, can you ensure the success of The Wave."

As he spoke, the class members stood beside their desks at attention. Laurie Saunders stood with them, but she did not feel the high energy and unity she'd felt on previous days. In fact, today there was something about the class, something about their single-mindedness and absolute obedience to Mr Ross that she would almost describe as creepy.

"Be seated," Mr Ross ordered, and instantly the class sat. Their teacher continued his lesson. "When we first began The Wave a few days ago I felt that some of you were actually competing to give the right answers and to be better members than others. From now on I want this to end. You are not competing against each other, you are working together for a common cause. You must conceive of yourselves as a team, a team of which you are all members. Remember, in The Wave you are all equals. No one is more important or more popular than anyone else and no one is to be excluded from the group. Community means equality within the group.

"Now your first action as a team will be to actively recruit new members. To become a member of The Wave, each new student must demonstrate knowledge of our rules and pledge strict obedience to them."

David smiled as Eric looked over at him and winked. This was what he'd needed to hear. There was nothing wrong with turning other kids on to The Wave. It was for the good of everybody. Especially the football team.

Mr Ross had concluded his talk on The Wave. He intended to spend the rest of the period reviewing the assignment he'd given the class the night before. But suddenly a student named George Snyder was raising his hand.

"Yes, George."

George sprang from his seat to attention by his desk. "Mr Ross, for the first time I feel like I'm part of some­thing," he announced. "Something great."

Around the room, startled students stared at George. Feeling the eyes of the class upon him, George began to sink back into his chair. But then Robert suddenly stood.

"Mr Ross," he said proudly, "I know just how George feels. It's like being born again."

No sooner had he returned to his seat than Amy stood. "George's right, Mr Ross. I feel the same way."