Yes, I don't agree with the viewpoint that learning programming (per se) should be a requirement, even though software is so pervasive in modern life and will b

Yes, I don't agree with the viewpoint that learning programming (per se) should be a requirement, even though software is so pervasive in modern life and will be more so in future. Instead, IMO, the concepts, importance and influence (on the world) of both computer hardware and software should be made known to students, via an intro level course, and then they should be given the option to learn more about those topics, if they wish. They should also be told that as time goes on, being computer-illiterate is more and more likely to be a handicap in the world, even for day-to-day living. But still, programming is not a requirement for living in the world. Instead, computer literacy, which nowadays should involve more topics than it did earlier, should be made a required course, including things like the basics of how hardware and operating systems and software work (not in too much depth, but enough), plus networking, the Internet, the importance of things like computer security (password management, URLs, malware prevention basics, backups, and many more).