Seeing Society Through a Different Lens — Teaching The Pedestrian and The Veldt Short Stories in High School English

Short stories hold a unique power in the English classroom. In just a few pages, they can spark intense discussion, raise profound moral questions, and immerse students in unfamiliar worlds. For high school students, who are at a pivotal stage in forming their worldviews, stories that push them to question society’s norms can be transformative. Two perfect short stories in High School English that excel at this are Ray Bradbury’s The Pedestrian and The Veldt.

These dystopian tales don’t just entertain—they invite students to interrogate their own world, encouraging critical thinking, empathy, and personal reflection. They make perfect entry points for conversations about values, conformity, technology, and the cost of progress.

Exploring Isolation and Conformity in The Pedestrian

In The Pedestrian, Bradbury paints a chilling picture of a future city where everyone stays indoors each night, hypnotised by glowing television screens. Leonard Mead, the story’s solitary walker, is considered suspicious for choosing to stroll through the silent streets. Eventually, a robotic police car stops him—not because he has done anything wrong, but because he is different.

This short, eerie piece provides a striking way to explore conformity and individualism. High school students recognise elements of this world: people glued to their devices, public spaces empty, and those who resist social norms treated as outcasts.

Class discussions can examine:

• How technology can isolate rather than connect us

• The dangers of mindless conformity

• The role of creativity, curiosity, and wonder in resisting oppressive systems

Analysing Mead’s character allows students to consider the importance of following personal values even when they conflict with social expectations. It also encourages them to reflect on their own relationships with technology—a topic that always draws passionate debate.

The Dangers of Escapism in The Veldt

Bradbury’s The Veldt presents an equally unsettling vision. Here, a futuristic “Happylife Home” automates every need for a wealthy family, and the children spend their time in a virtual-reality nursery that brings their imaginations to life. But their obsession with an African veldt simulation takes a dark turn, and their parents realise—too late—that the children have stopped distinguishing between fantasy and reality.

Students often find this story fascinating because it echoes their own media-saturated lives. It raises questions like:

• What happens when technology replaces human relationships?

• How much freedom should children have?

• What responsibilities come with power and privilege?

This story lends itself to values-based discussions about responsibility, empathy, and emotional regulation. It also provides opportunities to analyse symbolism, tone, and foreshadowing while exploring deeper ethical issues about parenting, consumerism, and moral boundaries.

Why These Stories Matter for Today’s Teens

Dystopian short stories like these resonate strongly with teenagers because they reflect underlying anxieties about the modern world. Today’s students are constantly negotiating how to live meaningfully in a tech-driven, often impersonal society. These texts allow them to safely explore big questions:

• What makes a society humane?

• How do we protect individuality in a conformist world?

• When does convenience become dangerous?

Because short stories are compact, students can dive deeply into the language and structure, sharpening their critical reading skills while discussing rich thematic ideas. This mix of literary analysis and personal reflection helps students build empathy, resilience, and their own ethical compass—exactly the skills they need beyond the classroom.

Studying Short Stories in High School English

You don’t need to start from scratch to teach these powerful stories. These The Pedestrian Short Story Unit and The Veldt Short Story Unit are ready-to-teach resources designed to save planning time while promoting deep learning.

Each unit includes:

• Engaging pre-reading activities to spark curiosity

• Comprehension questions that guide students through key plot points

• Analysis tasks focusing on character, setting, tone, and theme

• Critical thinking prompts that encourage debate and perspective-taking

• Creative writing and personal response activities to help students apply the story’s messages to their own lives

These resources don’t just test recall—they build students’ higher-order thinking and communication skills while giving them space to explore personal values.

Find out more about Ray Bradbury on his website here!

The Big Picture: Building Thoughtful, Empathetic Readers

Ultimately, stories like The Pedestrian and The Veldt offer far more than literary value. They allow teens to ask who they want to be in an increasingly automated world, and how to stay human when society pushes them to become something less. When students are encouraged to slow down, question the norm, and look at the world through someone else’s eyes, they grow not just as readers, but as people.

Teaching these short stories can be the start of lifelong habits of curiosity, reflection, and ethical thinking—all while honing key skills in analysis and communication. That’s the true power of literature, and it starts with just a few pages.

Check out the Short Story Units in the Tea4Teacher Store!