What annoys me the most about all of this is that the media and Government are too focussed on the actual code and not the benefits that come from learning to c

What annoys me the most about all of this is that the media and Government are too focussed on the actual code and not the benefits that come from learning to code. By the time these kids are old enough to gets jobs (so in some cases in 10+ years) technology will be even more prevalent in the work place than it is now and it will penetrate every sector. If kids start learning to code and making things with computers (whether it's apps, websites, programming Lego or robots) then they will become more familiar and comfortable with technology and whilst being able to write a bit of JavaScript may not directly help you get the dream job as a doctor, but being able to sit down in front of a new computer system or patient care device and very quickly learn you way around is a huge benefit to employers - and that will stem because they're going to have 10 years of being exposed to different devices, UI paradigms and OSs. In terms of the code it will hopefully teach the kids some maths skills, language skills (in terms of learning about syntactical structure and expressing your instructions), and also learning to fail (which we still see as a huge negative here in the UK). Of course there are many other benefits and skills they will pick up too. A final thing that pisses me off is this "year of code" aspect, it shouldn't be just one year, it should be tens years of code; the Government should be shouting about how enriched today's 6 years olds will be when they finally leave school to work because of a decade of exposure to technology. </rage>