Not Every Child Needs to Learn How To Code
With the popularity of mobile devices, social networking services, the gold rush of the App Store, and giant technology companies and their leaders entering into pop culture, “geek” culture and misfit hacker are have gained more notoriety than ever before. The Internet has been one of the most successful experiments that people like you have ever made in the last hundred years; its impact on the human race is comparable to the effect of the Industrial Revolution. For the technology enthusiast, your childhood passions are now actually a badge of honor rather than a hidden past that few understood if they saw it. You are a rising star in the eyes of many in this generation. You are special and you have an important role in a society that grew up with you. We need your unique skills to build our future, connect us to together, and help us create our shared experience as a human race. You have the necessary foundation in logical thinking and the requisite knowledge of our tools that we use.
“Software has changed the way we communicate, the way we shop, the way we listen to music, the way we create images, the way we find dates, the way we read books and watch movies, the way we work, the way our every action is stored and analyzed and the way we educate our kids. The democratizing effect of software in the Digital Age is becoming our shared experience as a species.”1
But let’s just set the record straight… the world needs more than just you. After all, you are only one small facet of the whole human experience. Our diversity and ability to thrive in unique circumstances is our strength; the future can be bigger than what you can possibly imagine. Consider the following statement from a dear friend of mine:
“I’ve seen a lot of people talking lately about how important it is for every child to learn to program, to code. … But [will] the future belong to the programmers? Nope. The future belongs to those who create. And creating isn’t limited or bounded by the ability to program or code.”2
Programmers who create are actually an astonishingly unique and rare breed - they create, refine, and help others do the same. Your code can be art form unto itself… but many others outside of that narrow area of expertise can do the same: writers that encourage and inspire the soul, artists whose works stand the test of time, or teachers who sustain and build the next generation of the human race. The world needs more than STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) to live and thrive. We can find equal value in learning history and religion, pondering languages and philosophies, exploring ourselves and nature through art and dance, and giving civic service to our neighbors. What we really need is anyone who can imagine the future and create a new world for us.
We need more than people just like you to make this a reality. Let’s see the true value in what we and others really do, work together, and make it happen!