It’s very common nowadays to hear how everyone should learn to code. The given reasons are many. From better job opportunities, to improvement of logic skills, to being able to see the world in a different light. For sure, learning to code has its benefits. However, pushing everyone to learn how to code, misses the forest for the trees.
I propose an even stronger push for digital literacy instead. Not everyone should learn to code, just like not everyone should know how to perform surgery. And just like people need to know about personal hygiene, so do they need to know how to stay safe in a mostly digital world.
Malicious actors are getting ever more sophisticated. I’m reminded of the TalkTalk data breach where customers had their money stolen by people who knew who the customers were, where they lived, and all sorts of other private information. No matter how refined the hackers’ technique, a very simple strategy could have thwarted their attempts: hang up, and call the company back on a known phone number. But this would require a calm mind, as well as knowledge of the potential threat.
We need to do a lot more work to educate people on how to protect themselves. A lot of good work has been done, but a lot more remains to be done. That’s why I believe the push for everyone to learn to code is fundamentally wrong. Yes, coding is cool. But safety in a digital world takes priority, and we should focus on that.