Exploring Dark Tourism and the Digital Child
Dark tourism is an emerging area of study focused on tourism in places that are identified with death and suffering . This can include battlefields ; certain museums like the Johnstown Flood Museum ; or the actual sites of death and suffering , such as the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville , Pennsylvania .
“ The obvious examples are things like a Holocaust museum or a battlefield ,” says Greg Wittig , a veteran middle school social studies teacher at Falk Laboratory School .
Wittig has always been interested in the effects of such spaces . He recounts talking with students about trips to places like the Grand Canyon and their descriptions of feeling awed or very small . He recently contributed a chapter to the new book “ Children , Young People and Dark Tourism ,” coedited by University of Pittsburgh School of Education professor Mary Margaret Kerr .
Wittig ’ s chapter , “ Difficult Heritage and the Digital Child : Challenges and Opportunities ,” emerged from his observation that often these sites are created and curated without children in mind . Is it a problem , he wondered , for parents to bring 3- or 4-year-old children through a Holocaust museum ?
“ Is it harming people ?” he wondered . “ What can we do to make this healthier for families and children ?”
In the chapter , Wittig focuses on the example of the Johnstown Flood Museum . In fact , it was a Falk School field trip to various sites connected to the 1889 flood , cochaperoned by Kerr , that provided the spark for Wittig ’ s contribution to the book .
“ It was a field trip that didn ’ t go smoothly ,” Wittig says .
He and Kerr took their group of students to eat lunch beside the Little Conemaugh River . When the group boarded the bus to travel down to Johnstown , the bus wouldn ’ t start . As the group waited for assistance , students asked if they could take off their shoes and socks and wade in the stream . Soon , students spontaneously began to build a dam .
“ They were passing rocks and boulders ,” Wittig says . “ It was authentic play . It blew me and Mary Margaret away . We sat there taking in the symbolic significance of it .”
Wittig approaches the subject of dark tourism for children through the lens of the digital child or digital native — that is , someone who speaks “ the digital language of computers , video games , and the internet ,” he writes .
“ When you ’ re coming into these curated places , there has to be intentionality , because the digital child is coming in with a certain desensitization to spectacle ,” he says . “ Spectacle is a consumable product now . We buy spectacle . We scroll through it on TikTok . How does a child process the tragedy of a massive loss of life when every day they ’ re playing a computer game based on a massive loss of life ?”
For parents and teachers , the question is how to wake children up into a vulnerable space , one that allows them to connect meaningfully to a subject like history . How can digital tools help with that process ?
“ Where does the shock come from that allows consciousness to arise when the tools you ’ re using to wake them up are the same enervating tools that they ’ re already using ?” Wittig asks .
While there ’ s no simple answer to those questions , Wittig has explored approaches in his teaching that mix reality and digital platforms to prepare students for these spaces .
At the Johnstown Flood Museum , Wittig ’ s students connected to the material through the account of a boy who survived a massive tree crashing through his house and sweeping it away in the flood . Before the trip , Wittig had students read his story , and at the museum , they listened to a recording of the boy recounting his ordeal .
“ We did a lot of work talking about that kid ’ s perspective ,” he says . “ Students were placed into conditions where they could have a visceral connection with that boy . I said , ‘ Can you imagine floating away like that , trying to survive , and your family ’ s already gone ?’
“ That was a little window to penetrate into authenticity ,” Wittig says . “ We ’ re not getting rid of these technologies . How do we make them work for us ?” ■
FALK LABORATORY SCHOOL | UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 27