AS we are living in an era where technological changes are taking place rapidly with coding garnering a lot of importance, there has been a sort of haste among parents to enrol their kids as early as five in coding classes.
This has led to a hot debate among parents on whether this subject is being taught too early. While several studies reveal the benefits of studying coding at an early age, there are those who think that it may affect the brains of children who have not yet learned to speak well, and prevent them from engaging with the real world.
Parveen Kaswan, an Indian forest service officer, pointed out that some parents believe children should learn cycling, skating, swimming and karate instead of spending more time in front of screens.
Others feel spending an hour a day to learn coding is not too taxing since children have the ability to learn and enjoy multiple activities during childhood.
How young is too young to study how to code?
In order to answer this concern properly, we need to identify what we mean by “coding” and consider the developmental capacities of our children, as well as the ability of our current education system to provide and teach coding meaningfully to young learners.
According to experts, it is not wrong for parents to introduce this “alien” language to their children as early as five, as long as it is done the right way.
For instance, as exposing children to computers at a tender age might not be good for their wellbeing and development, this subject can be taught through hands-on activities like playing board games or using technical toys.
This will reinforce basic coding skills and at the same time allow children to test their creativity and logical thinking.
At around 10 years of age when they are familiar with the basic concepts of mathematics, they can be exposed to learning coding via the computer. While some parents might think that this is just going to increase their children’s screen time, think again.
What we should do as parents is to take a more pragmatic view, and maximise their screen time for potential gains.
In fact, research has shown that educational screen time is linked to doing better in school and has no adverse health effects, but it is apt to engage in it with peers/siblings, as a means to promote social interaction.
Interestingly, in some countries like Singapore, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, coding is now deemed to be an essential school subject like English or Maths. In Malaysia, learning coding is not something new as it has been introduced in the school curriculum in 2016, starting with Year 6.
In fact, the Education Ministry has been cooperating with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation to train primary school teachers in coding to provide a high quality of education.
Experts believe learning coding is a perfect platform for young people to foster their entrepreneurial outlook, a way of thinking that enables one to be able to overcome challenges, be decisive and accept responsibility for any outcome, whether success or failure.
How can coding relate to entrepreneurial outlook?
Throughout the coding journey, it is a norm to fail at first (in fact, many times) and go through many experimental attempts to execute the desired output. The value that can be gained is resilience, which is a critical element of becoming an efficacious person sought after by employers.
Although learning to code is worthwhile, merely knowing how to code does not guarantee a lucrative career. Why? Because knowing how to code today does not mean you will know how to code tomorrow, as these languages change quickly.
According to Jeff Hammond, a vice-president and principal analyst at Forrester, an American market research company, with his 30 years’ experience, he discovered that coding languages change, frameworks change, vendors change, but implementation patterns tend to repeat.
Nevertheless, with skills children gain from learning to code, they can apply what they already know when new technologies emerge.
All in all, encouraging children to take up coding at a very young age will not overwhelm them, as long as it is done appropriately. It will equip them with the necessary skills for the future.
Afifah Suhaimi is research assistant at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
