> This gives the impression that not teaching kids to code is somehow equivalent to not teaching them to read. That is, of course, ridiculous. Coding is not the

> This gives the impression that not teaching kids to code is somehow equivalent to not teaching them to read. That is, of course, ridiculous. Coding is not the new literacy. Except coding is like literacy. Not everybody needs to be a professional writer, but there are few jobs today where reading and writing isn't a necessity and even fewer where it isn't a useful skill. Outside of work, reading and writing can be sources of pleasure and applied in many different hobbies and disciplines. Coding is the same way. If you know how to do it, you may see ways to make your life easier by programming that someone who doesn't know how to could never even imagine. sure, lots of people do fine without the skill, but when reading wasn't taught to everybody, those people also got by without that skill. There was a time when using a computer and programming one were much more tightly coupled than they are today, but with computers more powerful than ever and users less savvy than ever, their magic is lost on many. My (already born) children will learn to code, not because I want them to be developers, but because I want whatever job they have to be simpler and easier and more fun.