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Discussion on: What must we do to encourage more female coders?

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eaich profile image
Eddie

I have a 4 yr old daughter. She sees me on the computer all the time and asks what I'm doing. She asks if she can program too. Sometimes, I want to say no because I'm busy, but then I realize that the 5 minutes it takes for her to write the word "function" on my editor as I ask her to find each letter on the keyboard may be worth more than 5 minutes of lost time.

Let the option come to her. If she is interested in what you're doing, show her. Kids, especially young kids are often underestimated in their capabilities. You never know what will stick. For a while, my daughter thought that I was a carpenter because she saw me building things all the time, and then I'd see her building things out of blocks and pretending that she is me.

Not saying that my personal experiences are what you should do, but I think in general, kids are so sticky that if you start sooner than later, you never know what will happen.

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devdrake0 profile image
Si

I wish I could "heart" this reply 100 times. It must be hard not to "shoo" her away when you're in the middle of something important, but those five minutes will probably mean the world to her and you'll always remember them 😄.

Thanks for the reply - it was nice to read.