What most schools don't teach
 

I'm probably very late with watching this but think this is a great idea to talk about

Think of all the hidden talents people have, or how it would better modding communities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc
http://www.code.org/

I wouldn't mind some (optional) programming lessons during high school :)

I naturally had enough interest in learning about computer hardware/software that almost everything I know was self‑taught. However, not everyone will have that initial interest or enough patience and self‑discipline to pursue teaching themselves. I definitely think there should be further attention given to providing more non‑elective technology related courses—preferably, prior to high school or college. There is a severe lack of qualified candidates for high‑tech jobs—in the United States, especially.

Reminds me of something I read a while ago on Reddit that seemed like a great way to introduce younger kids to programming:

http://www.reddit.com/r/compsci/comm..._grade/c7xz4pg

More on topic, the closest my K-12 school ever got to a "technology" class was teaching touch-typing in middle school, and the use of MS Word to type up class papers. I already knew how to do those things, so naturally I spent those classes playing Quake and/or Oregon Trail instead. Granted, this was in the '90s, but I'm sure they could have fit in more actual technology classes instead of forcing me to take 2000000000 P.E. credits. Learning about technology is actually relevant to the real world. Learning that male P.E. teachers will let you sit out on dodgeball days if you tell then you have cramps is not. :p

This is very inspiring, but I've found that schools always find a way to make everything you love, or are mildly interested in, a mandatory hell.

Furthermore, if you teach programming at an early age, chances are they'll use very high level and easy-to understand languages like Java to teach it, not making them aware of what the computer actually is doing and how horribly inefficient it might be at doing that.

Kids should be encouraged to do research on their own, if they're interested. They should be taught about programming; not how to program. At least not until some form of higher education.

Just my two cents.

Agreed; I read everything I could get my hands on as a kid, and was a prolific writer of random unicorn and dragon themed stories, but I absolutely hated English classes at every level of school. And this is a pretty good piece on why math classes in school are awful.

The example in that Reddit post was probably better because it wasn't a regular class being taught by a regular school teacher; it was just some guy in for the day to introduce the kids to programming concepts.