Reid Cummins

WHAP Teacher and Glorious State Leader Mr. Peterson wears a helmet for protection. “It’s not hard in this particular game to get students to turn on each other, in order to gain rewards or gain favor within a state setting, to not want to get in trouble.” Peterson said. “We do hold trials. I try to keep them not all crazy [or] fear based, but it is a little bit anxiety and fear produced when you’re sitting in front of the classroom and the lights are out. When you start to remove faces from people, and identities, neutral identities, it’s really easy to create hate around specific ideologies and groups of people.”

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” It’s a common enough saying, but how much of it do we truly take for granted? Well there is one man who took this saying and flipped it on its head, as a new way to teach and engage students about totalitarianism and dictatorship. All hail the glorious leader and WHAP Teacher, Mr. Peterson.

Peterson was inspired by a teacher based out of Utah, who put together a game that incorporates both the political and economic systems of the world that rose after World War One and Two, and put them into a more modern setting.

“Really look at how political systems and ideologies come about and how extremist ideologies come about.” Peterson said. “That’s really the root of it. But then on top of that, is how easily human nature is to follow, it’s easy to fall in line and follow people based on fear and rewards. How hard is it, or easy, to manipulate people into falling into those spaces. So my goal is really to create [this kind of] space. It’s really hard to do because you can’t really create hardcore fear based in this space, without really punishing, creating isolation within classrooms, surrounding kids, etc.”

While hard to create, Peterson says that the payoff is well worth the trouble. 

“It’s not hard in this particular game to get students to turn on each other, in order to gain rewards or gain favor within a state setting, to not want to get in trouble.” Peterson said. “We do hold trials. I try to keep them not all crazy [or] fear based, but it is a little bit anxiety and fear produced when you’re sitting in front of the classroom and the lights are out. When you start to remove faces from people, and identities, neutral identities, it’s really easy to create hate around specific ideologies and groups of people. It creates spaces where you start to sub-humanize people. And unfortunately, it’s really easy to do. I think we’re starting to see it in our own political climate in today’s world, where we see extremism on both sides, and what that creates is areas where it allows us to hate people just based on their ideologies, their backgrounds, how they look, all of those components.”

These trials are not exclusively run by Peterson, as each classroom has their own legal court, based on leadership roles given to individual state members.

Many students across the state have created social media accounts, either praising or rebelling against the state. Peterson said that this is a great way for students to engage in the game on their own accord, modernizing the game in a new kind of way that wasn’t expected.

“I think it’s great because I think it gets kids involved in those things.” Peterson said. “I mean, that’s one of the things we talk about in class. It’s all propaganda, no matter who’s getting in your inbox there. But in today’s world, when they’re talking fake news, real news, whatever, and we’ve sectioned off so much online stuff into propaganda components. So I think it’s really important for kids to be able to see it and understand it, in this case.  I think at the end of this ‘game’, I think they’ll be surprised at the knowledge that the state has. It also shows them that their online footprint is potentially more significant than they think it is.” 

This game leaves many students wondering about how much their leader truly knows about their lives. Sophomore Michael Moracchi expresses his thoughts on how the game has made its way into his everyday life.

“The state permeates every aspect of my life in school.” Moracchi said. “You know, you have to be ever vigilant to not commit thought crimes against the state, especially if you’re a member of the party, and the expectation is very high on you. You have to be a beacon of duty, honor and responsibility, and you need to do your best to go ahead and root out. criminals, traitors, and other people who don’t really appreciate the rules set up by the Great Leader.”

The state has also made its way beyond the AP World classroom, and into upperclassman lives, as they report several crimes to Peterson.

“I was out at Menchies over by HEB the other day, and I ran into a group of students who I didn’t even have, but there were a handful of them wanting to report crimes. Peterson said. “[They said] ‘Will you write off the hours I owe to the school if I can find information on people?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely, I will.’ There’s people who have never been in my class who are willing to participate, to sell out their classmates, in order to gain favor.”

When asked for a closing statement, Peterson gave an ominous, yet simple, message.

“If you’re against the state, we’ll find you.”