I don't see the need for a degree if you have the skills. People who have the grit to bootstrap their CS education and complete it will do so. They don't need the support of a bootcamp or an accredited institution. In my work in trying to teach CS to refugees and underprivileged, underrepresented people, I've been discouraged. As of now, I believe that there is a very small subset of people who can really "get it" an…
>These kids they're children. there's something tragically wrong with the world that we expect children to be so jaded that they'd rather be career climbing than "hang out with their friends". i say this as someone who occasionally wishes he did do that (hung out less and studied more) and did come relative poverty but my point still stands.
At some point, children need to start maturing and thinking of themselves as adults. When they go off to college at 18, they're old enough to legally vote, drive, hold a job, get married or join the military. They still have a bit of growing up to do, but they're no longer children.
I spent a lot of time hanging out with friends in college, but I (and a lot of other people I knew) also worked hard at my classes (CS degree) and held down part-time jobs. My family wasn't rich, and I was old enough to realize that I'd have to support myself when I graduated.
I think we're doing young adults a disservice by thinking of them as "children".