I learned to code when I was 9 years old. It was in text. No one helped me. I found a couple books with my parents computer, 'Introduction to BASIC' and unde

I learned to code when I was 9 years old. It was in text. No one helped me. I found a couple books with my parents computer, 'Introduction to BASIC' and understood that if I learned what was in the book, I could make the computer do what I wanted. I don't know programming was supposed to be hard. I didn't know some adults did it as a job. I just knew that if I learned what was in the books, I could do stuff. So I started reading, and I never ran into anything that was beyond my grasp. I do recall reading one part that said a person who did not draw a flowchart before writing a program was either a genius or a fool and resolved to be a genius (hey I was 9). Not even refusing to create flowcharts prevented me. I feel in love the day I wrote: 10 PRINT "I LOVE YOU MOM" 20 GOTO 10 And filled the screen then called my mom into the room to look at it. Text is not keeping kids from coding. Adults are. Adults making kids think it's difficult, adults standing in the way and shuttering them into unnecessarily dumbed down environments, standing over their shoulder and making sure they don't do anything inappropriate, etc. But more than anything, adults filling kids free time and never giving them the opportunity to just sit down, have a quiet few hours, and figure things out.