Should Pre-College Students Be Offered Programming Courses?

There is a video circulating the social media networks that was created by Code.org.  If you aren't familiar with this nonprofit, here is a brief explanation.  Their goal is to promote computer programming to the point in which schools across the United States would start offering computer programming courses to their students.  Currently, most schools do not presently offer their students the opportunity to take programming classes until they attend college.  Where Code.org is aiming to expose young people to programming before they get to college.

If you haven't seen the video yet, I would highly encourage you to check it out.  It will be posted below.  But in short, the video features a handful of well know people who are either programmers or are allegedly taking programming courses.  And as the video progresses they all offer their insights as to why programming is important to them or even how they started programming.  Some of the people on the video include Bill Gates (Microsoft/Philanthropist), Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook), Gabe Newell (Valve), and Will.I.Am (I know, I didn't figure him to be interested in programming either).  And by visiting their website you will see a bunch of quotes by other famous people.  So it does "appear" that Code.org seems to be throwing popularity at the young people to make programming "cool".  This doesn't mean that programming isn't cool.  I happen to believe that it is very cool and a rewarding skill.

The big reason Code.org is pushing so hard to educate young people about programming is to expose them to a skill that happens to have a high demand in the job market.  And that demand is being forecast to continue to grow.  So by exposing young people to this as part of their education we are only empowering these kids with the skills and abilities to help them succeed should they decide to pursue programming as a career.

Personally, I feel like to sooner we expose the young people to programming; the better off those who decide to pursue that as an avenue of a career will be.  The Code.org website has a lot of good references and tools available for those interested in learning more about programming.  Some tools are aimed for kids and some are actual paid classes and courses.

There is also a petition to sign if you believe their cause is a worthwhile one.

So, check out the video and see what you think.  And afterwards, head over to our Facebook page and join in the discussion on this topic.