I don't understand why these people focus so much on "code" when most children are lacking basic computer literacy beyond just becoming consumers on the device, and have no context for why they might want to learn it. They barely know what to do to help themselves when the wifi is down, and these teachers want them to learn how to "code" first? It's not practical as a mission statement.

Most kids actually think of game developers when they think of coding, but they don't understand what that industry actually entails, or how much they might end up hating it if that is their aspirational goal. Sure, you could create your own games instead, but this doesn't seem like an inspiring goal for most people, or really solving any of the world's problems. (You could have them invent their own tabletop card game too: besides learning this as an exercise in its own right, it leads to the same goal for most people, i.e. nowhere.)

Also, everyone seems to think "computer science" just mean "coding". It could actually be a very interesting elementary school subject without ever touching a computer, and help teach valuable analytical skills that are more widely applicable. (It's as if we called astronomy "telescope science" or biology "microscope science" after the instruments... it's a classic example of a finger pointing at the moon.) I suspect the authors of this article don't understand the difference either, and that is damning of their initiative.

It sounds like some of the projects these girls are building are more about web publishing than "coding" anyway (e.g. building a site to celebrate black girls' hair). Which is fine, but then they're really saying "girls should learn to publish their ideas to have a greater voice in the world". That's laudable, but it's not the same thing as engineering the technology needed to invent the future.