One of my favorite short stories is Ray Bradbury’s “The
Pedestrian.” Bradbury wrote this in
1951, when television was the new technology.
The main character is walking through the streets of a city at
night. The city’s deserted, and all he
can see is the glow of television sets flickering in living rooms. While everyone else is glued to their sets,
he’s outside experiencing the world with all his senses – he feels the frost on
his nose, the crunch of leaves under his shoes.
Some cops come along and arrest him because he’s not watching tv. It’s
like a society where people have settled for virtual reality instead of actual
reality.
When I teach “The Pedestrian” to my students, I use it to introduce
a discussion of the technologies they’re familiar with – video games, Facebook,
smart phones etc. – and we talk about the pros and cons of these technologies. I think that’s healthy, and that’s why I
liked what Gillmor had to say, because he was doing that kind of evaluating and
saying, well there’s a lot of information on the Internet these days, but a lot
of it is garbage, and how do we sort it all out?
Maya Suryaraman
Santa Clara High School
Santa Clara, CA
Maya Suryaraman
Santa Clara High School
Santa Clara, CA
I have never used Bradbury in my classroom but I read a lot of the stories because my father is a huge fan. Thank you for reminding me of this story-it would be a great conversation starter for sure! I often start my computer classes out with the pros and cons of technology and their effect on our daily work.
ReplyDeleteHeather Jancoski
Desert Sands Middle School
Phoenix, AZ
I love Bradbury. In fact, I teach Fahrenheit 451 and I use it similarly to how you use the short story. I also teach 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Huxley. All three involve technology and morality issues we face today. The debate about technology is ongoing but the fact is, unfortunately, my own children know what texting is, have ipods and know about email. And they are 6 and 8. They will grow up immersed in it, knowing nothing different. Our generation is different and we need to stay up with the times, but there is nothing that says we can't discuss the debate with our students.
ReplyDeleteJackie Ludka
Pleasant Valley HS
Brodheadsville, PA
I haven't read "The Pedestrian," but love Ray Bradbury. I'll have to get to it before summer rushes to a close. It sounds like it would be right up my alley. The question of how the changing environment we live in influences our evolution as human beings is so interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteDeann McBride
Page High School
Page, AZ