Toddlers Should Learn To Code, Veteran Programmer Suggests

In the world of childcare, there are a lot of items that are always up for consideration. However, learning how to create programs is not exactly one of them. One programmer who is a pioneer in the field says that it should be and that toddlers as young as 2 years old should be taught how to code. Doing so could result in the reduction of gender stereotyping incidents.

The topic of gender disparity, sexism, and discrimination within the tech industry has gotten heated of late, largely due to the recent debacle involving a memo that a fired Google employee circulated and all the things that Uber has gotten mixed up in. Now, Dame Stephanie Shirley who has been in the coding game since the 60s has proposed that early education in programming could fix this problem.

In a recent article by The Guardian, Shirley talked about how starting at an early age could remove the pressure of gender stereotypes among people when learning to code. This makes sense since toddlers don’t really grasp the concept of gender roles yet, at least, not in the way that older children and adults do.

“I don’t think you can start too early,” Shirley said. “Most successful later coders start between five and six. In a sense, those years are the best for learning anything … and means that programming [hasn’t] become set in your mind as geeky or nerdy.”

As Futurism points out, there is strong evidence that there is still a huge gender inequality issue in Silicon Valley, with female programmers being given fewer opportunities than their male counterparts. The case is even worse for minority female coders.

Whether or not Shirley’s proposal would even be viable is the question. However, given that the world is heading towards a more digital and computer-centric future, it might make sense to start teaching the next generation skills that would actually be worth the most for finding work.