Coding for Kids and Seeing Beyond the False Promises.
This is the era of advertisement. It is truly said that something which is publicized at the peak, that is what people seek.
Advertising a product isn’t wrong. In fact, it is important in the sense that it helps spread the word and informs people about the new product. Imagine if there were no television commercials, you wouldn’t be so easily informed about the new launches, the new products, you wouldn’t be able to know about anything in fact!
But the problem arises when this medium of conveying information starts exaggerating things and makes misleading, if not false, promises (just like those politicians..Ahem!)
The new trend — Coding — and the role of advertisements in promoting it
Coding has become a lot popular in recent times. There are several organizations that have taken initiatives to teach young students to code. This has become the most sought after skill to learn, owing to its several benefits, which you may read in our other articles. It is quite natural that these companies/ institutions would advertise their services to let people know about them.
Owing to such advertisements, many parents today are getting their children enrolled in these courses. Every other commercial on television and social media platforms is about some or the other organization providing coding classes. There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, it is good that several initiatives are coming to the forefront to help children learn some valuable skills and utilize their time for fruitful activities.
But it becomes a matter of concern when these ads start targeting the FOMO(Fear Of Missing Out) and the soft corners of parents.
The thought process involved in this strategy of targeting the FOMO of parents
In times, when the competition is rising every day, parents become concerned about their child’s future and want to provide them with the best facilities to prepare for the future. This is the very same thinking which has led to coaching institutes offering preparatory courses for prestigious engineering and medical entrance examinations, for 5th-grade students. Seriously? At an age, when kids ought to play and enjoy learning new things, they are burdened with books and study materials and put under tremendous pressure.
It isn’t wrong to prepare children from their initial stages, but there should be a method to the madness. Moreover, one has to see if the child has an interest in the concerned field. For example, if a child is to be prepared for engineering entrance exams in the future, at a tender age of 10 or 11, they need not learn formulas and solve books, instead, they should be encouraged to develop an understanding of the subject, a liking for the profession and also nudged to develop a passion towards pursuing it. It’s no use pressuring them into pursuing a career unless they have an inclination towards it.
Maybe showing them interesting scientific experiments and letting them enjoy the little things they learn is what should be done at this age.
Similarly, when learning to code, children should enjoy this new process in which they engage themselves: coding, creating games and enjoying the process. They shouldn’t be forced into learning to code only for the sake of taking it up as a career option in the future. This is what people need to understand, that we do not code just for becoming entrepreneurs, we code just because we love to do that.
In the words of David Frost, “Do not aim for success, just do what you love and believe in it, success will naturally come to you.”
The problem with such misleading promises
The main issue is playing with someone’s fears and insecurities. Apart from this, some of the advertisements shown are just for the sake of publicity and lack genuinness.
Some time ago, there was a controversy regarding a coding boot camp. Students had said that the curriculum was unorganized. Moreover, there weren’t many qualified teachers, and students who had studied for a month or so were asked to take classes of the newcomers.
This is what puts the future of students at risk. This also diminishes their interest and ultimately leads to them giving up on their budding passion.
The solution
The main solution lies in awareness. Parents need to be aware and properly research about an institution and its facilities, before enrolling their children into it. They should try to gather information about the institution and the teachers handling their kids and make a thorough search.
They need to know about the curriculum that has been designed, the plans and their ways to teach that to kids, and should also enquire about the facilities to reach out to the teachers or the management in case of doubts or concerns.
Most importantly, they should always look for a balanced schedule that doesn’t hamper other activities of their kids and doesn’t put them under pressure. It should be an enjoyable learning experience.
The responsibility on the part of the teachers and the institution
The institutes should maintain transparency in their work, knowing that they deal with young minds, who would be future innovators, and hence they shoulder a great responsibility. There should be a properly designed curriculum that allows the kid’s development in a gradual manner and is specifically personalized to suit his/her skills and interests.
Classes should be balanced in frequency and duration, allowing children space and freedom to get involved in other activities. Learning something should be an enjoyable experience and thus it should be taken care of that students aren’t coerced into achieving a fixed benchmark, instead, their creativity should be allowed to flourish.
Further, there should be constant interaction with parents and sharing of the progress reports of the kids. The teachers and the management should be all ears to parents’ concerns and willing to solve their problems. And this is what we truly believe in at Turing Ninjas.
As parents, it is your responsibility to know your child’s interests and help them to develop those interests, without engaging them in a rat race of ever-rising competition.
Know that it is more important to enjoy what one does. Everything doesn’t have to be career-oriented, isn’t it? We all say that technology is an integral part of our lives and thus learning to code is the new normal, but we don’t stand by our own words. There are many children who take singing lessons but it is mostly due to their interests and because they have a love and passion for singing. All of them do not become playback singers when they grow up, neither do they want to. So if learning to code is another set of skills, which are learnt due to personal interests, then why don’t we let it remain so? Learning to code is indeed the new normal, so why don’t we really normalize it?
