Вікторія Горбік Around IT 3 May 2025, 15:17

Benefits, future profession or a waste of money? What do IT professionals think about programming courses for children?

Android Developer Yevgeny Maslak has a mixed attitude towards children’s programming courses. On the one hand, he sees some benefit from them, just like any other clubs, but on the other hand, looking at the courses, from the point of view of a future profession, it’s a waste of time, because «everything will be forgotten, damn it.»

Do other technical specialists agree with him and what arguments in this case are convincing to them?

Which IT worker has the weight on the side of advantages?

Some IT professionals saw more advantages than disadvantages in programming courses for children. Here’s what they think about it:

«Mindset will remain forever,» — Technical Project Manager Oleksandr Ostron.
«My son (7 years old) wanted to and went to the IT academy himself. I think his interests may change 100 times before university, but if he’s interested in it right now, I support him) without any special or large-scale hopes,» — HR Lead and Recruiter Anastasia Andryushchenko.
«A club, in my opinion, is a search for an activity that can interest a child and motivate them to develop in something independently. Music, martial arts, programming, etc. But definitely not about a profession. Although I know examples of people for whom a club at one time really turned into a profession in the future,» — Project Manager at Softermia Vladislav Shelest.
«For me, there is one criterion for all courses/groups — if the child likes it, then it’s not in vain!» — Solar Projects Development Manager at Atmosfera Nadiya Samko.
«My family already had experience of studying to be a developer as a teenager at the age of 13. There was both interest and opportunity and courses purchased — everything so that the teenager was busy with what he was interested in. My mistake was that I went for marketing, and not agreed where I studied. But not always great marketing = high-quality product. As a result — the first lesson — the teacher swears with the teenagers and it’s a complete mess, of course, after talking to the manager, the teacher was changed. Another teacher no longer swore, but taught dryly, not trying to interest, not paying attention, not answering the children’s questions. Of course, I was already there and listened to how the lesson was going. Honestly, I didn’t like it either, but what can I say about a teenager. Therefore, I think a lot depends on the teacher, his attention to the children, an interesting lesson. I think that such courses are, first of all, great for developing logic, independence, time allocated for this and focusing not on computer toys, but on solving the problem and purposefulness. As for the profession after the courses, of course, it is questionable, depending on age, but I think that if there is an interesting start, then there will be a logical continuation,» — Project manager in IT Yevgenia Chernyshenko.
«I would suggest spending this time and money on in-depth study of mathematics and English, which will be useful for entering a university. And in the last grades of 10, 11, the child can try programming in the summer so that the child consciously understands whether it suits them in the future,» — Front End Developer Olena Savytska.

Who would rather no than yes?

There are experts who give certain arguments why you shouldn’t send your child to programming courses. Here’s what they think:

«IMHO. My wife also tries to keep her eldest son busy with anything, and it gives exactly the same result that I had at one time. Rejection. It seems that if I wanted my child to never choose a profession, I would send him to children’s courses in that very profession,» — Senior User Acquisition Dmytro.
«I took my child to courses and realized that I was simply taking away his childhood and the time we could spend together playing Lego or going camping,» — Project Manager Yevhen Topolnytsky.
«Most (courses — ed.) are probably a rip-off of parents' money, like any „become an IT guy in a week“ courses in general, but overall it’s perceived as an ordinary club. You should probably look at the child’s reaction and success,» — Frontend Developer from TrackEnsure Inc. Oleksiy.

Teachers' arguments instead of a conclusion

Senior UX Designer at N-iX Junona Gres worked as a UX/UI and analytics coach for 5 years. She worked with teenage students aged 14-18, although, according to her, there were also 9-year-olds. Groups were formed with 12-22 people (12-15 offline, 15-22 online). The specialist shared her observations about the learning process:

Children under 14 can’t handle the level of complexity of tasks, their brains don’t yet perceive the full depth. Yes, they do simple tasks, but as a result, 20-30% of the information they learn is mostly like pressing buttons, but it’s not about analysis and thoughtfulness.
40% of the group are children who chose the direction themselves because they were «adults», 60% are those who were helped to come to class by a magical push from their parents («but the neighbor’s son studied», «it’s not good to hang out at home on vacation at the computer», «well, maybe you’ll learn something useful», and of course «you can earn a lot»).
From a group of 15 people, 2-3 people (usually 16 years old) remain in the profession, very talented and hardworking. 7-8 people graduate with good skills, but they will not go further — it is difficult and takes a lot of time, but they still want to go. The rest do not reach the end (it is good if they leave after the first classes, when they can still return the money for the course, or they can simply skip the entire course while their ancestors are paying.
Online courses always yield 30% worse results among teenagers than offline ones.
If you choose who is easier to teach and who has higher profits among adults or teenagers — definitely teenagers! Why is that? They are not yet scholastic, they perceive it more easily, they do not say: «I did not do my homework because I have a family, a job, etc.» They are easier to captivate and, as a result, their theses are always of higher quality, more detailed and thoughtful than those of their older colleagues.
Among my students are those who started working right away at 16 and now, when they are 18-19, they are already working in large companies (I’m so proud of them!)

Conclusion: observe your child. If he is mature, go to an open day at an IT school, see which course and teacher he will take the most, and only then decide.

Senior Python Developer at SoftServe Oleksandr Viter taught programming (Python) in courses for teenagers (13-16 years old). He believes that courses are a good option for practice before entering university and even before starting preparation for NMT, in order to understand whether this direction is interesting at all, whether the profession of a programmer is attractive in reality, and not just in theory, because «IT specialists are shoveling money.» If we look at it from the point of view of «now I will master these skills, and then in 5 years they will be useful,» then Oleksandr agrees with the author of the post and believes that this is a losing strategy.

«From my personal observations, out of a group of 15 children, about 2-3 usually have a real talent for programming and they should definitely choose this profession. Another 2-3 have no talent, but they have curiosity and with their interest and perseverance they achieve great results. And another 10 people are those who have tried it in practice and realized that they have neither the abilities, nor the interest, nor the desire to do this. And that’s normal, not everyone needs to become programmers. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, engineers, linguists and a bunch of other people with higher education are also needed by this world,» he adds.

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