Should We Be Teaching Our Kids to Code?
Consider the following:
10 PRINT “Hello!”
20 PRINT “My name is IR.”
30 PRINT “How are you?”
It’s written in the first programming language I learned, GW Basic. Can you imagine if you had to write an email like this, let alone a social media post?!?
No one programs like this today.
Why?
Because we have more advanced software that uses high level language interpretation to generate the code for us.
Before GW Basic we used punch cards to program computers. We don’t anymore.
Why?
Because software came along that rendered this skill redundant.
Given the title of this post, you can see where I’m going with this.
Policy makers are grossly misaligned in their assumptions about technology. Yes technology will be more integrated into our lives, BUT there’s no correlation between learning to code and being able to take greater advantage of that technology.
Think about it, your car has a computer, when was the last time you wrote code to make it drive you to work?
Making coding mandatory for kids is like trying to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and annoys the hell out of the pig.
So what should we be doing instead to equip our kids for the future?
Teach your kids 3 skills:
1. How to learn - this skill provides the greatest ROI
2. How to make money - the future is not about jobs, it’s about creating and exchanging value
3. How to sit around a table with people from different cultures and appreciate different perspectives
These three skills are the key to surviving the world of tomorrow, and to a certain extent, navigating the challenges we face today.
