I {Heart} Neil Postman

Photo by Lusi
Without a narrative, life has no meaning. Without meaning, learning has no purpose. Without a purpose, schools are houses of detention, not attention." -Neil Postman

I was introduced to this profound and thoughtful social commentator in college when his "Amusing Ourselves To Death" was required reading. Over the last 10 years, I have read many more of his books, including "Technopoly", "How To WAtch TV News" and "The Disappearance of Childhood".

THe information and ideas he presents in his books always leave me so unsettled. On the one hand, I find myself wanting to raise the books over my head and shout "HELLLLLOOOOOO?!?!?!? Has anyone ELSE READ this?!?!?!?!?" His view of society, it's problems and patterns, are so crystal clear. On the other, I struggle with the feeling of "Okay, now what do I do?" In the case of my latest read, "The End of Education", the questions must be addressed and answered for the sake of my one child currently in public school and the other about to start.

Many of my decisions and attitudes about technology education have definitely been influenced by the idea that there must be a foundation of creative and critical thinking before training a child to simply point and click. Both my children have had very (extremely) limited computer time since I feel that young children are mostly kinetic learners, with the best understanding taking place by relating meaning. I haven't found a computer program that will let a child feel, touch, smell, interact and connect with a subject like real life, esp outdoors, does.

This latest read has also expanded another idea first raised in Technopoly: that technological skill is displacing cultural development in American society. I believe that as the middle class shrinks, the differences in class will be seen more saliently in culture more than ever before. There will be those exposed to art and grand music, etiquette and dance, environmental studies and volunteerism; and then there will be everyone else, limited in "worth" - self or otherwise - by their ability to consume the "next best" thing, all the while being enslaved by such products.

So do you think I feel anxious about being a parent in the 21st century??????