There is a recent news story about a 14 year old Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban because she was advocating for girls to be able to attain an education. At such a young age, she recognized the value education could have for her and took a stand when the Taliban started blowing up schools to keep girls from being able to attend school.
I think about education in the United States and the contrast is so overwhelming. By law, our kids are entitled to a free public education and yet we have kids (and parents) who do not want it. Certainly, one could argue there is a bit of a glorification of education in our society and that not everyone *needs* an education to do what they want. But what does this have to do with computer science?
Am I suggesting we throw traditional education systems out the window and strictly work from an apprenticeship model? No.
Am I suggesting we track our kids from birth to force them into a pre-destined career? No.
What I am suggesting is that we use this news story to shape our students’ ideas of education among gender. Remind them of how much choice they have in what they do, where they go, and the effort they put into things. Remind them that sometimes things are hard, that you must study to learn something new, and that doing well in computer science is about hard work and not innate ability. Remind them that computer science is a tool to help them accomplish other goals andnot just learning a programming language.
But most importantly, encourage students to take a stand for something they believe in. Find their passion, and use education as a catapult to follow that passion and contribute to the society in which they live.
Mindy Hart
At-Large Representative