Should My Child Learn Computer Programming?
/(A thoughtful answer from a screen-cautious educator)
We are living in a time where the use of technology occupies us for hours each day, especially if we need to use it for work.
Which makes many parents wonder if they should enroll their children in a computer programming course, so they are well-prepared for advancing in the modern world.
The thing with computer use is that the younger generations instinctively know how computers work. I'm sure you've seen the typical scenario of a frustrated older person asking a younger person for help with something computer-related.
The older generations have missed out on the collective understanding of computers that has infected the younger generations. Even though my children did not get computers until they were in college, when they did get them they instinctively knew how they worked.
This astounded me. How could they figure things out in minutes when the same things would take me hours or days to figure out?
Because people over 50 missed the computer bug. Using a computer is not instinctive for us so we have to be taught how to do every little task!
When it comes to the question of enrolling your child in a computer programming course, your child will fare better if you wait.
The reason is simple: the more we use computers to think for us, the less we develop our thinking muscles. With the deluge of AI, people who can think creatively and innovatively are going to be in demand soon because everyone else will have “brains of mush”, as one tech expert put it.
And one of the keys to critical-thinking skills is reading.
Reading is critical for the young. Children who grow up with screens, regardless of the justification for it, are unlikely to become skilled readers. That’s not to say it’s impossible but to point out that you are gambling with your child’s future.
Think about this: have you ever visited a friend who has the television on? Everyone in the room will be talking, and then slowly each person gets pulled to the screen.
Screens put us in a trance-like state.
You must know what I mean; it's happened to me many times while traveling in foreign countries where it’s often the custom to keep the television on for background noise.
A very weird custom. Why not turn on some background music instead of a mesmerizing screen?
Anyway, my point is that if a child has to choose between using a screen and reading a book, he'll choose a screen because the screen has a magnetic pull on him. It’s difficult for us “knowing” adults to resist our own screens, so you can imagine how impossible it will be for your child.
If you want to raise a child for the future—as counter-intuitive as it sounds—keep him off of screens until the mid-teenage years and forget about the computer programming courses.
A well-chosen movie now and then is fine, but, for the most part, you want your kids engaged in life, using their minds, and learning all they can through books and real-life experiences.
Instead, give them great literature to read, homeschool them using sound methods, and watch them rise amongst the few who have well-formed minds and can think for themselves.
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About Elizabeth Y. Hanson
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a “whole” child, based on tradition and modern research, Liz devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
Liz is a homeschooling thought-leader, as well as the creator of three unique online courses, Raise Your Child Well: Preserving Your Child's Natural Genius by Laying a Solid Foundation During the First Seven Years; the Smart Homeschooler Academy, educating children who are brilliant, happy, and well-socialized; and How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.
As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, Liz has 23 years of experience guiding parents through the amazing journey of raising and educating their children.
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"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. For a copy of The Short Angry History of Compulsory Schooling, click here.