The advertisement starts with a bunch of suit-clad men and women fighting with each other at the entrance of a house. They are kicking, pushing and punching. The background song implies these are people who have come from all over the world (If so, that’s some poor diversity represented by the actors.) All this happens while a woman is sitting happily in her verandah, witnessing this gruesome act like a sadist. Her husband then comes out with tea, and they both are sipping and enjoying the violent act (weird fetish, perhaps?). The neighbour (probably a helper from next door) inquires about what’s happening (rather than trying to end the commotion). That’s when the weird lady proudly says that her son made an app, and these people have come from all over the globe to invest in it. At that moment, her son steps out, and the neighbour is shocked to see that their son is a little kid who invented an app.
The ad was about online coding classes for kids.
Can you guess the most unrealistic aspect of this ad? That’s right.. the neighbour inquiring, didn’t know that a kid lived next door. The neighbour was minding his own business the whole time? Woah!
That, and the whole ad!
The ad was no-doubt creepy, but the idea and intention it conveyed was alarming. How bizarre is it to lock your little kid in front of computer screens to learn ‘coding’? I mean, the kid is anyways going to spend an eternity staring at screens; why start young? Do you want to drive your children to ‘burnout town’ much before he/she hits college? Do you want your child to experience an early onset of anxiety, though he has an ‘adulthood’ waiting to provide the same? Or, do you want to make your kid even more socially awkward than he already is because,hey, coding is going to be his best friend until he hits puberty. If yes, then what are you waiting for? Enroll now! I heard they are offering a free class too.
It’s already daunting for parents to detach their kids from mobile phones. To push them to the outside world to play with other kids or engage in physical activity is tougher than ever. Back then, we mostly stepped out because there was nothing that held us indoors (except for some video games and Tom and Jerry), but not today. It’s perplexing to find ways to throw your munchkins outdoors for, the comforts, gadgets and visual distractions are plenty inside their homes. To make things worse, covid has only confined them further. While covid shall one day pass, I’m quite skeptical about how this new-age online education fad will unravel.
Young age is when you should subject your children to plenty of practical learning and problem solving (not online programming). By providing a nurturing environment of support and exposing children to various spheres of learning that includes reading, music, dance, language, art, math & science (at levels appropriate for their age) and sports, they are given opportunities to develop in a holistic way. Both sides of their brain are given the right exposure to grow which will ultimately help them (and the parents) choose a future path that will be apt for them. Engineers and doctors are not the only options anymore! Subjecting a kid to coding classes at an age where they should ideally be mingling with other children (and not be left on their own with computer classes which are not a part of their education curriculum) is setting up early failure.
The only additional lessons or classes that your children need are probably a glimpse into future life lessons (wish I had them when I was young), not just the ‘Panchatantra’ ones, but the ones that would be needed when you step out into the real world. These are lessons about how the real world will coerce you to deal with stress, competition, betrayal, disappointments, politics, enmity, anxiety, and myriad negative emotions & environment where only your confidence, strength, and grit will help you cope. I don’t believe that knowing how to ‘code’ since you were little would help. Pressurizing them at a young age because you contemplate a future of fierce competition in the tech world is ridiculous. They will not succeed this way! For all you know, they may grow up to loathe and blame you for snatching their playful childhood from them.
The only good that ‘may’ come from this is that your child will probably hate education from a younger age, and might focus on his hidden talent and passion which he’ll purposely pursue: anything to escape the madness! So, for now, let your kids be kids. Enjoy and encourage all the time you get with them during their growth phase. Innocence and juvenility won’t take long to depart.
