Off late, there’s been a sort of rush among parents to enroll their kids in coding classes from a young age itself. And some of them are learning about game/app development as early as 6-8 years. However, IFS officer Parveen Kaswan questioned if this trend put undue pressure on children when they should be playing and being carefree which sparked a discussion on the merits and demerits of the same.
Why do we want to teach coding to a six year old kid ??
Rather they should play hide & seek. Run in sand. Talk with grand parents. Priorities !!
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) November 2, 2020
Some parents suggested that children could learn cycling, skating, swimming, and karate instead of spending more time in front of screens. Others stressed that kids need to be allowed to be kids and parents shouldn’t get influenced by the fear-based marketing of coaching institutions.
We need to teach our kids to be more humane in nature than materialistic and over ambitious. Sadly in this fast moving economy, the latter tends to take priority
— Rahul (@rahul_sureshan) November 2, 2020
Also Spanish.. dont understand what these kids will do with foreign languages at age of 5. Its mandatory. I asked schools to teach one of Indian languages and they said no option.
— 🇮🇳అరవింద్ Arvind (@Arvi_N) November 2, 2020
People find all kinds of ways to make money by playing on others’ greed and insecurities. Unfortunately, gullible parents fall for this trap.
— Salt’nSpicy (@saltnspicy) November 2, 2020
If not coding it’ll be something else. Parents need to stop forcing their kids to take up number of activities and then boast abt it. If a kid is interested then they can learn one or two types of sport\art Poor kid bears the burden of parents expectations and pride
— Ashrita Bommakanti (@ABommakanti) November 2, 2020
Peer pressure!
Today, the parents are under more pressure than the kids, during term exams….
We aren’t setting our priorities right!
We aren’t allowing kids to be kids…— ತರ್ಲೆ 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓂𝓂𝒶 (@BLRrocKS) November 2, 2020
It is a business tactics nothing more….
More than coding I will prefer kids to learn Karate, Taekwondo, skating, abacus, Vedic maths, any regional language…— 🎨Deepika🖌️ 🇮🇳 (@ArtisticDeepika) November 2, 2020
That’s really unfortunate. Forget about coding these days parents are sending their approximately 18 months old kids to school and expect them to learn writing alphabets. I request all parents to stop these cruelty on kids.
— Dr Vidhi M Pilania (@VidhiPilania) November 2, 2020
Teaching coding to a 6yo is plain stupid. Parents should realize that coding is 10% syntax learning and 90% imagination. They are killing the latter one by hindering them from viewing the world through their own perspective.
— Neo (@eyemnav) November 2, 2020
Totally agree. These online classes are taking undue advantage by creating fear in parents that if kids don’t learn code now they can’t ever learn. Let them enjoy their childhood. Let them learn cycling, skating or play as per their wish.
— Saurabh Shrivastava (@saurabh_srvt) November 2, 2020
That’s my point… without physical activity kids will be dull and will be suffering from obesity.
It’s important to have physical activity atleast 3-4hrs a day.— Ansh (@AnshulT81885785) November 2, 2020
On the other side of the scale, people said that taking out an hour a day to learn coding wasn’t too much and that kids have the ability to learn and enjoy multiple activities during their childhood.
I look at logic development and problem solving as the key skills nurtured during coding. These are life skills and age is no bar (8-10 yes is good starting point)
I don’t care about app development or language kids learn.— Samved Galegaonkar (@samvedg) November 2, 2020
My sons learn coding, also spend a lot of time with grandparents
— Shilpashree Jagannathan (@shilpajn) November 2, 2020
If a six year old can follow the instructions on a lego set, they can also learn to code. Kids as young as six have been coding with Scratch for several years. The problem is with adults who see coding only as drudgery, and not as play.
— Shilpa (@HarshanShilpa) November 2, 2020
Sir I agree.
But remember in a day the kid might be awake for 20 hours.
One hour can be spent there, its like any other study. Why not prepare kids early?
— ☼ B Raj ☼ (@betki) November 2, 2020
Not necessarily. Kids can learn anything in the young age. The question on why 6 yr needs to learn coding is from parents who fear coding. Nothing wrong in spending 30 mins a day in coding. U have more than 23 hrs to play hide and seek.
— Theo_Arc (@TheoArc1) November 2, 2020
If a kid can learn a human language at 3 years of age and why cannot a machine language at six? I think it’s possible.
— Navveen K K (@NavveenKK) November 2, 2020
Going forward , everything would be coded. Learning a S/w language is as important as learning any other language .
— Krishna (@Krisvishy) November 2, 2020
Both sides of the discussion put forth some solid arguments. Guess it’s for parents to decide on a healthy balance for their kids (depending on their abilities and interest) to ensure all-round development while being cautious of not being influenced by marketing tactics or peer pressure.