Your comment couldn't be more on point. I viscerally disagree with the direction that a lot of "coding" initiatives are taking in schools nowadays. The claim is

Your comment couldn't be more on point. I viscerally disagree with the direction that a lot of "coding" initiatives are taking in schools nowadays. The claim is that the intentional move away from actual computer science is that it is a way to attract more people. Fine. But when the course is just about making "whatever you want," then that really valuable time of learning these debugging skills gets missed, 'cause you can always pivot and do something else. The most valuable lessons I've learned about coding -- and the ones which, like you wisely stated, are applicable elsewhere in life -- had everything to do with needing to work through a tough computational challenge. That taught me how to know I don't know something, how to poke at an issue in such a way as it would reveal something about the system (or my own understanding), the oh-so-currently-hyped skill called "grit", etc. Every thinker or scientist I deeply respect has a treasure trove of examples of being stuck and working through hard and challenging problems even as little kids. That somehow we think an avenue for a more educated populous consists of presenting fewer experiences like that to youngsters is beyond me.