{"id":3177,"date":"2013-02-27T10:42:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T15:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/?p=3177"},"modified":"2013-02-27T10:49:13","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T15:49:13","slug":"schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools don’t need to teach kids how to code"},"content":{"rendered":"

The brand new initiative at Code.org<\/strong><\/a> states that “every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn to code<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

This statement is signed by 80 or so technocrats, politicians and other so-called ‘public figures’, that attempt to deliver a convincing reason why schools should teach ‘coding’, and why kids that don’t know how to ‘code’ will be the disadvantaged of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

As a systems analyst, developer, programmer and graphics developer, I would be expected to side with this enthusiastic attempt to spread the knowledge of the digital world of the Machine – but I’m completely opposed<\/strong> to this perilous approach.<\/p>\n

Programming, as opposed to ‘coding’ and ‘code’, is a conscious choice, either at a hobbyist level or as part of one’s profession. Not everyone becomes an artist, or a lawyer, or a doctor; to enforce the teaching of ‘code’ as if it were a fundamental necessity in modern life, is downright silly.<\/p>\n

Kids today have every resource and opportunity to delve into ‘coding’ at the age that they have access to computers, which can be as early as six. At age 14, I was definitely at an advantage to learn the fundamentals of what happens inside the computer – then, a 20th century miracle. But I had a solid background to work on, because school had laid the foundation by instilling knowledge that does not depend on computers to operate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Schools need to refrain from teaching kids how to ‘code’. Young adults have every chance to do that on their own, as a career choice or as a hobby, because the world is now dependent on the Machine. Schools must focus on teaching the written and spoken language, and why words are formed as we know them; they must expand on history, ethics and challenge research; they need to culture philosophy, the arts and raise awareness about the environment, the earth and the animals. Schools must show kids how to use their hands, for functions other than typing on keyboards. Students must learn to use all of their senses to stimulate their minds fully; computers restrict that.<\/p>\n

The world does not need an army of coders that don’t know what ‘susceptible<\/em>‘ means, that have no idea who is Plato, and cannot name three art movements of the last century – without resorting to Google.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Particularly those kids in the US that would be forced to become ‘coders’ – because, according to those 80 ‘specialists’ at Code.org that’s a necessity they would not survive without<\/em> – are bound to discover soon after graduation, that the Philippines, India and China are already filled with programmers that do things cheaper; sometimes, better.<\/p>\n

Since Code.org is an initiative to bring coding languages as a compulsory subject at US schools, the best approach would have been to demonstrate how programming interconnects with other aspects of life. Contrary to what Code.org asserts, kids of today must be exposed more to the non-digital world<\/strong>; they must learn first hand how everything worked or failed for thousands of years, before tapping on an iPhone became a substitute for physical interaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The brand new initiative at Code.org states that “every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn to code.” This statement is signed by 80 or so technocrats, politicians and other so-called ‘public figures’, that attempt to deliver a convincing reason why schools should teach ‘coding’, and why kids that don’t know how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-issues","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nSchools don't need to teach kids how to code - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Schools don't need to teach kids how to code - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The brand new initiative at Code.org states that “every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn to code.” This statement is signed by 80 or so technocrats, politicians and other so-called ‘public figures’, that attempt to deliver a convincing reason why schools should teach ‘coding’, and why kids that don’t know how […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-27T15:42:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-27T15:49:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Theo Develegas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Theo Develegas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Theo Develegas\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe\"},\"headline\":\"Schools don’t need to teach kids how to code\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-27T15:42:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-27T15:49:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":532,\"commentCount\":7,\"articleSection\":[\"Social issues\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/\",\"name\":\"Schools don't need to teach kids how to code - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-27T15:42:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-27T15:49:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Schools don’t need to teach kids how to code\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe\",\"name\":\"Theo Develegas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Theo Develegas\"},\"description\":\"Theo Develegas - News and opinions on domain name investing, brand development, design, and the occasional rant or two about life's challenges. Founder of Acroplex LLC.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/acroplex\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/acro.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Schools don't need to teach kids how to code - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Schools don't need to teach kids how to code - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","og_description":"The brand new initiative at Code.org states that “every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn to code.” This statement is signed by 80 or so technocrats, politicians and other so-called ‘public figures’, that attempt to deliver a convincing reason why schools should teach ‘coding’, and why kids that don’t know how […]","og_url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/","og_site_name":"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","article_published_time":"2013-02-27T15:42:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-02-27T15:49:13+00:00","author":"Theo Develegas","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Theo Develegas","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/"},"author":{"name":"Theo Develegas","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe"},"headline":"Schools don’t need to teach kids how to code","datePublished":"2013-02-27T15:42:07+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-27T15:49:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/"},"wordCount":532,"commentCount":7,"articleSection":["Social issues"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/","url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/","name":"Schools don't need to teach kids how to code - Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-02-27T15:42:07+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-27T15:49:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/schools-dont-need-to-teach-kids-how-to-code\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Schools don’t need to teach kids how to code"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/","name":"Acro.net - A Domain Investing Blog by Theo Develegas","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9c9625f061a0e603a87f5bf0f6f781fe","name":"Theo Develegas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6794630c371bee89f2b833c1f4b777d9ba75767b217c8fce2cfd6e6d7d90960d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Theo Develegas"},"description":"Theo Develegas - News and opinions on domain name investing, brand development, design, and the occasional rant or two about life's challenges. Founder of Acroplex LLC.","sameAs":["https:\/\/acro.net","https:\/\/x.com\/acroplex"],"url":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}