With all the ‘boy moms’ memes going around, claiming the game Minecraft is exclusively for their sons, I did not predict that this game, and coding in general, would be my family’s COVID 19 lifeline.
Like the rest of us, my 12-year-old daughter was not prepared to give up the life she knew over night, but unlike a lot of us adults with our set routines, the life she knew was already one of new beginnings. This was the first year of middle school, the last year before she is officially a teenager, the year she hoped she would be spending less time with dear old mom and more time with her friends. I wasn’t sure how this extroverted kid would handle school life online; I wasn’t sure how online school would work in terms of her IEP.
Like the rest of us, my 12-year-old daughter was not prepared to give up the life she knew over night, but unlike a lot of us adults with our set routines, the life she knew was already one of new beginnings. This was the first year of middle school, the last year before she is officially a teenager, the year she hoped she would be spending less time with dear old mom and more time with her friends. I wasn’t sure how this extroverted kid would handle school life online; I wasn’t sure how online school would work in terms of her IEP.
It seems like everyone asks me what my plan is to keep my energetic, only child, occupied in isolation. I asked myself this as well; cat cuddles can only go so far. In April, we stumbled upon an opportunity for my daughter to take an online coding class and I figured we may as well give it a try. Those Thursday hour-long classes, focussed on designing a video game using Python, soon became the highlight of our pen to paper schedule. Then an opportunity came up through the school, where my daughter could join the Girls Who Game club; and everything about my daughter’s attitude toward school changed.
"There is a power in becoming creators"
My daughter thrives in this collaborative, creative environment, working with other girls. This kid is known for silliness, like lobbying to have her name changed to Raccoon on all school documents, and now she is taking on leadership roles- and taking them seriously. The girl who used her school agenda for nothing more than doodling is now creating team schedules. As the mother of an outspoken feminist with ADHD, I am used to calls from the school, but now these calls are to express how her teachers and principal share my excitement with how our girl is thriving. Her overall marks have improved and she hasn't lost her wacky side in the process.
Coding is a successful learning tool for a creative like my kid; the kind of kid who is so often told that she is a person who excels exclusively in the arts, not in the technical side of things. Now that the Ontario math curriculum will include coding – a fact that her teacher excitedly emailed us – maybe this kid who 'isn’t a math person' can shine academically in a way that wasn’t accessible before.
Nicole Harris, an elementary school teacher in British Columbia, who ran a coding club for students aged 7 to 10, and has volunteered with Girls Who Code, agrees with this sentiment, as she talks about how coding can empower kids, “There is a power in becoming creators rather than consumers. When they are able to share ideas and stories through coding, some of the barriers that can exist with traditional methods are alleviated, allowing them to grow confidence in themselves as individuals with ideas to share.” Some of my mom guilt over being lax with screen time during COVID 19 is alleviated too, knowing that my daughter is creating on screen and not simply watching one.
Nicole Harris, an elementary school teacher in British Columbia, who ran a coding club for students aged 7 to 10, and has volunteered with Girls Who Code, agrees with this sentiment, as she talks about how coding can empower kids, “There is a power in becoming creators rather than consumers. When they are able to share ideas and stories through coding, some of the barriers that can exist with traditional methods are alleviated, allowing them to grow confidence in themselves as individuals with ideas to share.” Some of my mom guilt over being lax with screen time during COVID 19 is alleviated too, knowing that my daughter is creating on screen and not simply watching one.
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Harris adds that girls face additional barriers, “When girls are at this age, this is the time to get them hooked and recognize themselves as a coder, before they get older and shy away. Exposing girls to coding now will help lessen the gender gap we see in the STEM field.” As highlighted in Hackergal Cassie Tatone’s November 2019 blog post, 'What I learned by ‘being bad at technology’, the percentage of women in STEM industries is 22%, only 2% higher than it was in 1987 (which, according to my daughter, is pioneer times). These stats need to change, and thanks to programs like Hackergal's Hackathon, they will.
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In an October 2018 article for Today's Parent, 'Why girls need STEM and why STEM needs girls' Kate Rae writes, "A career in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) offers so much for our girls; opportunity, the chance to shape our world and job stability in an increasingly tech-focused marketplace."
Girls like my daughter won’t be told what they can’t do, they are too busy shaping our world.
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