Shades of Neil Postman

In The Disappearance of Childhood Neil Postman suggested that the western conception of childhood, as a stage distinct from adulthood, developed along with the development of a print culture. Both children and adults were exposed to the oral and visual culture around them, but print culture demanded the acquisition of the skill of reading, and since children didn't learn to read, that became the skill that distinguished between childhood and adulthood. Children were excluded from the cultural and social activities that required the ability to read. In that sense, oral and visual cultures are more inclusive than a print culture which establishes a hurdle to membership. Today, in a similar sense, illiterate adults are excluded from full participation in the surrounding culture, even though there is no longer any reason, if there ever really was one, for this.

Whether something natural or a social construct, Postman viewed the distinction between childhood and adulthood as positive, as a distinction that should be maintained. This was at least one of the reasons for his critique of electronic culture.



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