We all know that there are some serious problems facing our children as they grow up. Public schools are a mess. Standardized testing causes more problems than they solve for young people. It takes a ridiculous amount of money to even raise a child until college. College itself can cost just as much in only four years. After all this, young people are increasingly underemployed. Why is this?  It might have something to do with the way industry has transformed in the United States. After World War II, the United States enjoyed an economic boom in the industrial and manufacturing sectors as the country returned to work, and factories were returned to peacetime operation, with wartime equipment. Additionally, the economy was stimulated by the ongoing battle with communism as the military industrial complex continued to grow. However, with the advent of the personal computer, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, many jobs have been outsourced to various countries where labor is cheaper. As these jobs leave, others follow and American companies have downsized. This means that each entry level position that is actually available is more competitive than ever.

So what does America do now? Well, we’re pretty good at making software. Factories may currently be better suited for other countries, but America is still leading the world in producing influential (and necessary) intellectual property. Most of this intellectual property is, you guessed it, software and algorithms for computing. Where would the entire would be without social media or search engines with super-fast responses?

What does this mean for our kids? Simple: make sure they learn how to code. If their schools fail them, or money fails you, coding is a skill that will be in demand for much of the foreseeable future. With this one ability, your child will be able to find their own way in an increasingly uncertain world. Even if your child want to do something else, coding will only help them accomplish what they want to, from art to science to politics. If you already code, it should be easy to teach. If you don’t code, make sure to send your child to a coding academy of some kind, where proven professionals can guide him or her. Make sure to start early, because kids are like sponges for all languages, virtual or not.

Banking and financial services are a lost cause, teach your kid to code.

Industry in the United States has stalled considerably recently. While unemployment is not very high, underemployment is. While the country is currently clawing its way out of a large recession, many young people can still only find jobs which don’t fully utilize the skills they developed in college.  Sometimes, those that didn’t go to college find themselves in a better financial situation later in life without the
burden of student loans.  Obviously, this only happens if a high school graduate finds a profitable skill-based trade which suits her as a career. However, these jobs can be difficult to find as a large portion of traditional American industry has been outsourced in the last few decades. Everyone has it rough. The number of people competing for each job continues to increase, and we’re less and less likely to get promoted at the jobs we work in.

So what is America good at? It turns out, we’re pretty good at moving money around, maintaining a large military, and, we’re really good at making computers work. Like other manufacturing, much of the
building of smartphones, computers, tablets, and their requisite component parts is done in other countries. So what do we do? We write the code. Despite falling math and science scores nationwide,
the United States is still the center of influential and groundbreaking software, video games, websites, and algorithms. That’s odd, because we don’t teach kids much about computers in public schools. Often, only those with an odd predilection for computers ever delve into coding. Those that do, and learn to master a coding language or two, find that they have a marketable skill, independent of how well they happened to do in school. So, teach your kids to code, whether or not you can. It will be the best gift you ever give them. A vast majority of the world economy in the quickly approaching future, and from then on, will be driven by computer code. Teach yourself if you don’t know already. There are free websites, and paid tutors you can take advantage of as an adult. Even if it isn’t directly relevant to your current career, I guarantee it will help your resume in the future.

We all know coding is fun. We also know it’s in high demand. By 2020, 1 million computing jobs will go unfilled in the United States due to a lack of appropriate preparation of our future workforce. Unfortunately, many students are graduating from excellent universities without the ability to obtain positions that utilize their expertise. However, someone who graduates from college with a computer science degree is very likely to obtain a desirable and high earning position immediately. Those who possess these highly valued technology skills will have the opportunity to work in any field they want as they depart college because every field will certainly contain positions that require expertise in technology.

Throughout the country, schools are beginning to emphasize and demonstrate the importance of coding. For example, students at Jesse Bethel High School are not just learning coding, but using it to earn money for resources. Dianne de Guzman explores this in a recent article titled “Jesse Bethel students learn coding and earn money for school resources.” De Guzman writes, “Thanks to a company called Codecademy, the students are learning the code required to build websites. A web-based program, Codecademy teaches users computer coding skills, teaching HTML, Javascript and other coding languages. In 2014, the company partnered with DonorsChoose.org, and through a $1,000,000 grant from Google.org, they’re offering schools a chance to earn $100 per student in DonorsChoose rewards. Each student that completes a 12-hour Javascript coding course by March 17 can earn rewards. Underrepresented groups in computer science, such as girls or African American, Latino, American Indian or Alaska Natives can earn more funding credits for their class.”

Meanwhile, in New York, coding schools are acting upon a recent initiative from President Barack Obama to encourage coding. According to the Associated Press, “Targeting stagnant wages in an otherwise improving economy, President Barack Obama on Monday called on employers, educational institutions and local governments to develop a home-grown high-technology workforce that could help drive up higher-income employment. The effort aims to attack a stubborn downside of the current economic recovery and fill a gaping demand for high-tech workers in the United States. It will also make use of coding academies, including New York City-based General Assembly and the Flatiron School, which have had a growing role in making tech skills more widely available. General Assembly will pilot an online Web development program with at least one community college system and also work on standardizing tech training programs. The Flatiron School will be helping to expand on a program it operates now as part of the city’s Tech Talent Pipeline to train 18- to 26-year-olds who do not have a college degree.”

At CodeRev Kids, we applaud these efforts. It’s our mission to provide youth with the tools they need to succeed in the computer science field when they get older. We offer a wide variety of programs that teach youth about robotics, web development, app making, and much more. Our lessons are customized to meet the expertise of each student and we emphasize engaging lessons that are not just highly informative, but fun.

Whatever youth coding education needs you might have, look no further than CodeRev Kids!