In his first Google+ Fireside Hangout (an obvious modernization of FDR’s Fireside Chats), President Obama expressed support of introducing computer programming into schools around the country. His reasoning is based on one of the most controversial subjects since the Sandy Hook shooting – video games.
As the Obama sees it, children should be learning how to create video games – not just consume them.
President Obama references the natural talent of the younger generations in technology in the internet, and that they all have the capability to be taught how to take advantage of those skills. “Given how pervasive computers and the Internet is now and how integral it is in our economy and how fascinated kids are with it,” the President explained, “I want to make sure that they know how to actually produce stuff using computers and not simply consume stuff.”
President Obama supports his suggestion by promoting the idea that providing students with a computer programming class will make students work-ready for after they graduate high-school. Obama explains that this is important due to the fact that there are a lot of high-school graduates that will not pursue a four-year degree at a university, but helping those students prepare for life outside of school is still important.
A key argument is that getting students interested in subjects like computer programming can simultaneously strengthen the students’ interests in mathematics and sciences, which are both closely tied in to computer programming.
Along with his suggestion for adding computer programming classes to schools, President Obama has called for further studies of violence in video games and its connection [if any] to real-world violence.