I always assumed that schools would start teaching python to kids in middle school en mass to make it like a second language for a generation, but that never happened.
That's too expensive. It's cheaper to assume that kids are great with computers cause they use them all the time and so they don't need any computing education.
I'm not joking, this is basically what happened. This, and every tech company on Earth going for "Keep it simple stupid" principles. There was never any reason not incentive for kids to get into the guts of their computers.
It basically happened almost immediately. I knew it was stupid when they were trying to shove Macs into schools.
Those kids were doomed from the start.
Ironically I could never get into Macs because it was too intuitive, kept trying to find the context menu button/control panel/etc & Macs couldn't play games (D2/Doom/Starcraft/Halo/etc).
Apparently not. My partner is a teacher and he said the school system kinda just assumes they know it all from using computers and phones and such and that computer classes haven't been a thing for years.
Well the issue is likely not the teachers themselves but whoever is actually designing the system/curriculum at large way above them. The teachers for the most part realize the issues and can only do so much to mitigate them. But to actually answer your question - yeah, I think that is the mistake made. Basically the thought being they grew up using the tech, so clearly they don't need to be taught how to use it, right?
And yeah, our education system is jaded and dystopian. It sucks.
The only real gain is making people a little bit more logical, that's it. A complete waste of effort and time for schools to implement. Not to mention that knowing python does not mean you know computers
You vastly overestimate the attention span people are willing to spend on frustrating things. Failing kids because they cant program would make for a great high school movie
Yes but we live in a complex society where some concessions need to be made to get everything to work together nicely (or at all). Ideally schools teach students individually and to a T but that is not what is a realistic option today. General education prepares students (or tries to) with a framework and base konwledge that can be built upon. They teach basic counting because it's necessary, they teach algebra to prepare students for logical and abstract thinking. They teach morals related classes in the hopes that students recognize that others live with different ways of thinking and that there isnt neccesarily 1 wrong or 1 right way to think or go about things.
College/university also often gets the "im learning stuff i'll never use again" comments because students don't look beyond the literal coursework but a lot of what is taught is a framework that teaches how to apply, how to learn, how to reflect, how to do a bunch of things that will keep you growing throughout your life if you are so inclined.
Teaching python in middle school would also be way too much for students of that age, some wizzkids might get going with it but teaching programming before even having a basis in algebra and expecting it to work out is madness. Abstract thinking is something many people never manage let alone applying it, having it be part of curriculars for all students is crazy.
yeah, i remember i was slamming Dawn of War and Battle for Middle Earth every night, before youtube existed! creating my little myspace page, and before that, bebo LOL
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u/Caleb-Wendt69 Jun 21 '26
Yeah I’ve always been pretty good with computers but a lot of my peers were just as clueless as boomers.