When I was 8, I was completely obsessed with being an air hostess ‘when I grew up.’ The thought of travelling the world while looking glamorous just struck a chord with me! But fast forward 30 something years and our kids aren’t thinking flying – they’re thinking tech!
New research by McAfee shows that a large percentage of our offspring are keen to pursue a career in the digital world. In fact 43% of tweens and teens are interested in pursuing it as a career while 46% are keen to learn to program or write code (developing and writing software) for new apps or websites. Parents are also developing an appreciation for the employability of tech skills with one in three interviewed hopeful that learning how to program and code will help their children with future employment.
Now in its fourth year, McAfee Teens, Tweens & Technology research provides a gauge on the behavior and opinions of young Australians and their online lives. This year, the research was extended to include parental options as well as our Aussie teens’ thoughts and aspirations for future digital higher education and potential employment avenues.
One of the most interesting aspects to the study is establishing what is motivating our tweens and teens to want to get involved in tech. Is it all about being a tech hipster and hovering around groovy inner city cafes? Actually no, not at all. It is far deeper.
59% of our young people are keen to enhance their cyber skills to protect themselves online, most specifically their privacy and finance from cybercriminals. 40% are keen to learn skills to protect our country from terrorism, 37% to protect companies from cybercriminals and 35% are keen to protect Australia from outside threats. I love the fact our future generations are thinking smart — seems like we aren’t doing a bad jobs as parents!
So if your kids are keen to advance their tech skills, why not think about enrolling them in an after school course or a school holiday workshop. Check out Code Camp — a great kids orientated code learning workshop program
or Code 4 Fun — a Sydney based code after school coding program.
Till next time,
Happy coding!
Alex x
Stay Updated
Follow us to stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats.
