I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
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Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#2I'm sceptical about this article. I think author contradicts himself at a time, and certain ideas aren't well presented (like, coding is not syntax, unless we disagree on definition of "coding"). While at the end author talk about good values, somehow the subject is viewed in harsh light.
Coding, like reading, shouldn't be forced blindly. But that doesn't mean parents, who're literate, shouldn't be also familiar with code.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#3Teaching children "coding" is as useful as teaching them any other trade, like carpentry. Something that can be a hobby, side business or become a real occupation. But it's absolutely non essential. Most people will never even gain an ounce of understanding for any aspect of software development and THAT IS OK.
I would argue that the majority of people that are considered successful do not know how to code. Also, responsible parents do not want to let their children become software developers just like they generally don't want them to become prostitutes and drug dealers.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#4I would add, that we should teach kids the modern version of the lemonade stand, which can be a the classic lemonade stand, but also add more bits of advertising, product differentiation, marketing, etc for something that isn't necessarily lemonade but already of interest to the child. Coding isn't the important thing as it is identifying characteristics of it and presenting them to others. It would be fun to make a website together with them for their friends to use. They would provide the ideas and the adult would do the coding.
What's better than teaching your kids to code? Teach them to lead with vision and ideas. Let the other 99% of kids become coders.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#5More to the point, if every child learns to code, when they all grow up, coding will not be such a useful skill to have. Just like reading and writing. Of course you need to know how to read and write, but reading and writing is such a common skill nowadays that it's not something that you can realy on for job security.
That's not an argument against teaching kids to code- quite the contrary. You don't want your kid to be the odd one out, that doesn't know how to do what all the other kids know (to a greater or lesser extent). But we should maybe rethink the degree to which learning how to code as a child right now will ensure one can make their living coding in the future.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#6This is mostly obnoxious. Coding is a great way to build logical thinking, mathematical maturity, and creativity.
Perhaps OP is confusing teaching syntax with teaching coding. At least on my end working with kids, it got creative almost immediately, and mathematical not long there-after.
It's fun.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#7More to the point, if every child learns to code, when they all grow up, coding will not be such a useful skill to have. Just like reading and writing. Of course you need to know how to read and write, but reading and writing is such a common skill nowadays that it's not something that you can realy on for job security. That's not an argument against teaching kids to code- quite the contrary. You don't want your kid…
I can think of few skills that do more for your career than excellent writing.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#8Teaching them to code means teaching them to solve problems. It helps greatly their development and their thinking.
Before you code you think about what you need to solve. When you write the code, you think about the potential outcomes of the line/snippet you're writing.
I think that's a skill that is worth having.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#9Slightly off topic, but I'm reading this on Brave for Android with an ad blocker. The site manages to show an ad. No big deal. The site also hijacks my back button. When I try to come back here, it says please don't go, read some more stuff.
Perhaps someone should teach that web developer how websites and browsers are supposed to work.
Good thing Brave allows me to block JavaScript, and a little ironic given that Brave was founded by Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript. Genie, back in bottle.
I'll just add Slate to the list of sites I don't visit. Surfing on my PC has become obnoxious due the JS (ads?) spinning up my CPU fan to 100%.
Re: I’m a Developer. I Won’t Teach My Kids to Code, and Neither Should You
#10Teaching children "coding" is as useful as teaching them any other trade, like carpentry. Something that can be a hobby, side business or become a real occupation. But it's absolutely non essential. Most people will never even gain an ounce of understanding for any aspect of software development and THAT IS OK. I would argue that the majority of people that are considered successful do not know how to code. Also, res…
I highly disagree with this. Programming, if taught correctly, teaches kids how to think, similarly as to how math does. In my opinion people in most professions would benefit tremendously from being able to reason correctly deductively and from knowing how to approach complex problems, which are skills that a good programming education will give you.