Computer coding a necessary foreign language for students to learn

Jeremy Ring
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Every parent wants the best for their children, and in today’s world – where innovation is part of everything we do – providing students with a better understanding of technology is becoming essential. Every day there are advancements taking place in the cars we drive, on the personal computers we use and in the life-saving medical technology we rely on.

So how do we prepare tomorrow’s innovators for the future? We start by providing high school students with the option to learn computer coding, which is a foundational education building block necessary in providing a 21st century education.

This session, I have introduced legislation, CS/Senate Bill 486 in the Florida Legislature to provide 9th through 12th graders with another option to foreign languages.

Currently, Florida’s high school students are required to take two years of a foreign language to graduate. If approved, CS/SB468 will add computer coding alongside the other languages taught in Florida high schools, including French, Latin, Spanish and Mandarin. It is not a replacement to these languages, which all have their own merits, but adds it as an option for students who aspire to gain a better understanding of the language of innovation that is taking place in today’s global economy.

Some have been asking, why a foreign language? The answer is because computer coding is a foreign language. It is used by our counterparts in places like China, India and throughout Europe. It’s a language that binds cultures – regardless of their geographic location – behind a common computer framework that is used to power all the technology we use in our daily lives. And like Latin and Sign Language, which are other languages offered in Florida, computer coding isn’t spoken.

An important reason to include computer coding under foreign languages is because it has a two-year requirement, compared to the four years required under math and science. If lawmakers were to place computer coding under math or science, it truly would be a replacement and not a choice. This way, students can take two years of a traditional language and also two years of computer coding – a common sense compromise.

I strongly believe that adding computer coding to the list of foreign languages will go a long way in providing students with a greater understanding of the technology around them. Once implemented, it can serve as a model for other states, and Florida can one day pioneer a curriculum where students become fully immersed in computer coding by starting as young as Pre-K3 and continuing through college.

As someone that worked in the tech industry and has seen firsthand of what we are up against nationally and internationally, I want to choose a future that can be transformational for Florida’s students. When given the choice to learn a language in high school, computer coding can be the great educational equalizer.

Jeremy Ring is a Democratic member of the Florida Senate and a former executive at Yahoo! He resides in Parkland.

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