Code to the Future: Why Every Child Needs Programming Skills

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The world is gradually advancing in all aspects and things aren't the same anymore. Nowadays tech work is gradually taking over and we are in the AI age but something seems to remain stagnant which is the school educational system or should I just say as it is in my country. Gone are the days when we just focused on basic science, introductory technology or civic education (God I was really serious with those subjects back then) but I didn't see any use for them after leaving secondary school, all those subjects just felt like distractions afterward when they suppose to teach us the real practical skils we needed, I can count the numbers of times they allowed us to operate on the school computers, and if not that I had to learn everything about computer outside the school during holiday, I might just be a computer illiterate.

Somehow I don't why the educational system especially in the public sector isn't thinking ahead, we are in the tech age and I don't think they have anything relating to what tech is or the skill acquisition in the curriculum, almost every child has access to a smartphone or pc and what they do most of the time is to scroll through social media or play mobile games but somehow I don't think they are curious to know how this platform were created, just as other subjects are important in school, I think coding and digital skills acquisition should be an important subject if not the advance part, they should at least know the basic because on a long run, it will be of good benefit to them and make them prepare for many careers ahead, in fact schools can easily create extra curricular activities and teach digital skills just like they use to say "Catch them young".

Should coding and programming be made compulsory for every child in school?

My answer is YES, it should be made compulsory for every child in school because it stretches them in various ways which make them understand what technology is all about and not just that, they have deep knowledge on the logic behind this app and also make them understand if their personal informations and privacy is safe or not among other things. Moreover, when it comes to computational thinking or boosting their problem solving skills, this are the things they need, imagine trying to code a website or build an app from scratch, you first need to analyze the things/language skills you need to make it successful, how to check and fix errors if any. It also build their patience and confidence level when handling projects and task and to top it all, prepares them for the future or what lies ahead.

I already decided for my future kids, they will be exposed to this kind of learning at a younger age instead of whiling away their time at a younger age, if they spend time playing games or watch movies, they need to know how those games are created, then when they are able to decide what they want, they can easily pick from the various options available