Did you know there is a bug which is far more powerful and deadly than Covid19? It is present in India and is rapidly expanding. It is called the Coding bug.

But it does not kill people, it does far worse, it kills dreams. While for some it makes dreams for many others it is killing them from inside.

Let’s explore it in detail:

Hello parents and students,

Most of you would be wondering whatever I have said until now, does not make sense. Just read on and then let’s discuss.

Before we start, we want to make it clear that we are not against coding. What we are against is forcing your children to learn without understanding their choices and personality. Learning it like a subject and then forgetting how it works is not what we favour.

What do you want from your child? Making him smart or geek?

Do you know what Coding is?

Coding is basically learning a computer language.

What is more important for a 6-year-old?

Learning a language to express it to friends, playing, roaming around, exploring creativity, i.e., holistic development? Or learning to talk with the Computer?

Typically, in life people those who are successful are those with experiences. It is these experiences which help them navigate their professional life.

Learning coding is not bad thing, it is indeed an awesome thing. But that does not mean you will take away the childhood.

Early coding, or precoding, offers children experiences that integrate communication, thinking, and problem solving. As a matter of fact, coding helps in improving skills like persistence, creativity, attention to detail

If there are so many good things about coding, why are we telling you not to pursue it? Let’s find out

Coding in itself is not bad, the problem is the way in which it has been approached

There are few facts I want to put across about coding.

You won’t make millions or crores overnight

• The most lucrative thing of coding is that it’ll fetch you loads of money. It is almost stupid to look at the ridiculous ad where a mother and father are seeing investors fight outside to get their app. That’s how they trap you.
• Coding is portrayed to be the solution to salvation! Gosh! If you think you can do coding and suddenly start making millions (like the movie on Mark Zuckerberg where they drink, take weed and code and then> suddenly make millions).
• All these are false narratives that are built only to promote the agendas of few companies.

• Coding is not a job, it is a skill. You learn a skill if you like it (like I never learnt singing). But because Sonu Nigam is earning in crores, will you tell everyone to learn to sing)
• Degree is still required: most of them think only coding is enough. However, it is important to note that getting a bachelor’s degree is still a requirement of most corporates.

Time and Effort

• Be ready to invest years in it: it takes decades to become an awesome coder. Until then it is all learning time. Coding in itself is pain-strikingly monotonous work and may even not let you use your creativity (if you have).

Check what you learn

• It depends on what you are learning in coding. For instance are they learning the ability to break down a problem in a structured form and use different faculties like arts, creativity, problem solving to design the solution or they are simply remembering the codes for different types of work?

It is not the ULTIMATE solution!

• Coding is being shown as a one-stop solution for securing your child’s future. Just like engineering had been shown in those times. It isn’t!
• Look at these stats: World Economic Forum has predicted 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that do not even exist yet. In India, even if not 65% atleast 30-40% of jobs will change and that is seen today as well. There are so many of us who do work which our parents either did not know existed or never had so much scope.
• Similarly, there are many fields that will emerge in the near future. It may be due to technological change or mindset change. But definitely there will be an impact. That does not mean you can do coding and get away with it.

It is not COMPULSORY for website or app development

• We asked a few people how will coding help their children and few of the replies included things like it’ll help in making website, app development, etc. Again a myth! You can develop a really good website even without coding (look at our websites www.trofcareers.com and www.troftraining.com if you do not believe). There are only a fraction of websites that require coding to play with.

It is not your child’s tech friend

• While it is agreed that that technology today is child’s best friend and it accompanies the child in the journey of learning to walk, run and talk. Understandably that’s why you want to ensure your child also is equipped with technology
• It is not new that children today are much more adaptive to technology than the parents. And this shall continue in the time to come as well. That journey happens in the process of growing up and there is not required to be done separately to make them adapt to technology
• Given this, do you think your child needs coding at the age of 6 to become technologically equipped?
• We don’t think so!

Learn in depth!

• Also, the problem with coding is, nowadays they are not really teaching things in depth. The how, why, etc. Along with coding it is essential to know everything from basics and how things work and why things are there. Only such kind of holistic approach of learning will help in overall development.
• Along with that, it is important to have fundamentals right in place. Understanding things like data structures, algorithms, packet structure, TCP/IP, HTML, CSS, user interface design, or databases? Programs don’t run in isolation. You need to know the fundamentals and how to use them.

Coding is a part of software development

• Coding is only a part of software development. Though there are many jobs available for coding today, it may not really be the same years later.
• That’s why having an overall knowledge of software development also matters.

WHEN SHOULD YOU LEARN CODING?

Check for Interest

• First try to see if there is a genuine interest in learning to code, it could be using coding solutions without screen, yes there are learning kits available that help the child learn coding without the screen. Or you could have a mock, to see your child’s behaviour.
• Also, it is imperative to mention that most of the children get attracted to it because of the laptop in front and not because they are interested in coding

(To discover your aptitude and personality and get suggested careers on the basis of it, take our career assessment test)

Both Coding and Engineering are awesome fields!

• Wait, do not take me wrong. I certainly know and believe that both coding and engineering are very important and have to be learnt. But the point is only the right set of people with the willingness to put the hard-earned years, nights, sweat and tears should learn coding. There has to be an inclination and a go-getter attitude for succeeding in coding.
• Infact, I would also argue this for all other skills. For instance, we do not tell everyone to learn fashion designing. Only someone with a particular set of skills and unwavering passion will go global. Coding is similar.

FINAL REMARKS

If you like coding, then do not let anyone stop you. Watched the movie pursuit of happiness? Remember the conversation where the father said do not let anyone tel you, you cannot do it, not even me!

Basic coding does not require a lot of investment. You can find free tutorials on Youtube as well.  (There are a lot of free stuff available online)

However, do not loose sight due to the charming silicon-valley bubble that is being created in India and around the world.

Thank you for being patient and reading this.

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