Simple but fast 2D lib for drawing pixels

[Peter Mexbacher]

Hello,

we want to teach absolute programming newbies
a first language, so they can start programming
simple scientific models.

We thought Python would make a good choice for
a first language; but where pretty stumped when
we found out that there is no simple way to draw
pixels to a screen. (This is needed for fractals,
agent-based models etc -> like Conways Game of Life)

Our requirements:

-) easy to learn (newbs!)
-) not too slow (after all, the models should simulate something)
-) python :-)

Any ideas?

Best Regards,
Peter