The Pros And Cons Of Coding For Young Kids

Coding has become one of the most sought-after skills of the 21st century, and it is becoming more and more of a norm to teach this skill to young kids. But is it really that necessary to start coding early, or is everyone else a ‘sheep in a jeep’ after all? Let’s find out…

From driving cars to driverless cars, leisure trips to Switzerland to possibly flying to Mars, the world is changing at an exponential rate.

To help kids keep up with this fast-changing world, teaching kids coding seems to be the way to go. Now with a wide availability of online coding classes for kids, this has become a highly accessible avenue too.

But does your child really need to join coding courses, or it is just another trend that is peaking right now and will fade away later? To help you decide, here are a few pros and cons of teaching coding to kids:

Pros

1. Becoming ready for the future of jobs

Machines are taking over many of the jobs that once belonged to humans. Also, according to a recent McKinsey report, more than 65% of the jobs of the future do not exist yet. One thing is for certain, being handy with technology to accomplish tasks is going to be an essential part of nearly all future jobs. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for the younger generations to make themselves familiar with tech processes and skills.

2. Gaining relevant cognitive skills

In 2016, the World Economic Forum released a Report, which listed the top “21st century skills”. According to this report, Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking and Creativity are the top 3 most valuable skills that we need to imbibe in children to give them a successful future ahead. Coding by its very nature helps exercise all of these skills.

3. Enhancing school performance

Writing programs requires the practice of various mathematical skills such as Linear Algebra, Boolean Algebra, Calculus, Graph Theory, etc. Therefore learning to code, automatically helps enhance math skills that will sooner or later be introduced during the school’s mathematics lectures. Therefore, if someone is afraid of mathematics, coding can actually be a really fun and engaging way of becoming comfortable with learning it. Additionally, programming is a memory-intensive skill that demands attentiveness and the ability to handle large amounts of information at a time. Memory is also an important skill for school-goers. Coding courses for kids can help students to develop their memory function from an early age.

4. Self-Empowerment

Programming is a very empowering tool, as it allows a child not only to develop cognitive skills (as discussed above), but it also gives students creative and innovative liberty, as coding allows us to build apps, games, robots, and much more. The process of creating something from genesis to revelation, so to speak, is a very empowering experience for anyone. Coding lets children explore their power to create something wonderful, impactful and dynamic on their own.

5. Widened Avenues

Coding opens children up to a wide spectrum of future careers and creative choices. Website creations, game and app development, Artificial Intelligence analysis, computer and animating are just some of the options than a coder can explore.

Cons

Coding can possibly become obsolete

With the rise in the capabilities of artificial intelligence systems, some people believe that coding can become an obsolete skill that will eventually be taken over and performed by machines. However, there is a long way to go before that can happen, as on a cellular level human intelligence is a lot more complicated than some can imagine, and it will take a long time for machines to even begin to incorporate these cellular elements into their neural processes.

Kids need to be kids

Kids are already spending too much time in front of screens and should spend a balanced amount of time going out into nature and interacting with other kids. There are some possible alternatives to coding when it comes to developing the cognitive skills that coding inculcates in a child. These include- STEM Toys, memory games, visiting new places, asking questions, etc.

So what do you think? Should kids be taught how to code?

BeSingular offers online tech courses to kids, globally. It offers live and teacher-led sessions, where the child learns to apply their learning for creating real-life workable tech solutions. Tech Programmes offered at BeSingular include- Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Game Design, Internet of Things (IoT), 3D Printing, App Development, and Augmented & Virtual Reality (AR/VR).