You might be a teenager, wondering how you’ll spend your summer vacation other than working at your part-time job. Maybe you’re a parent of a teen, wanting them to gain some valuable skills this year besides improving their video gaming prowess in the basement. Either way, learning how to develop software and mobile apps can be a great long term benefit which can translate into a life-long career path. Even if hands on programming isn’t in the cards, here are five ways learning to code can benefit teens.

1. Programming Creates an Eye for Details

Regardless of the long-term career you or your teen takes in the future, being detail-oriented will benefit work performance. Learning how to code languages such as: • JavaScript • .NET • HTML5 and CSS • Visual Basic and C++ can help create an eye for finer details, supporting your teen in careers like engineering, design, the arts or even social services.

2. You Never Go Wrong with Technical Acumen

Whether your teen is destined to be in sales, marketing, the trades or as a professional coder, being comfortable with the latest hardware and software tools benefits the “Under 20” and sets them up for success. Understanding the way mobile apps, business software and even console games are built can build a better appreciation for their value, and help teens to find better uses of their time rather than lingering on social media.

3. Stimulation of Creativity and Problem Solving

If you have ever sat down in front of a computer with the assignment of designing a new application, or trouble shooting an existing one, you will appreciate how learning how to write code can help hone your creativity; more specifically, to design more engaging user interfaces. Additionally, trouble-shooting software bugs can improve your critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Although many aspects of coding involve the stimulation of logical thinking, there are elements of the practice that are conducive for encouraging teams to be more adventurous, open minded and imaginative to create apps for users.

4. Improve Collaborative and Independent Working Skills

There are elements of coding software that may seem lonely. Imagine this – the solitary programmer, tapping away at the keyboard, building software or developing web applications. There are valuable lessons to be had from programming on overseeing a project from beginning to end as an independent tech guru. However, there are team-building opportunities in building code that often go unconsidered.

Introducing your teen to coding education environments is a great way to encourage team or solo work habits. This environment encourages team building and delegation skills, which are optimal for future management positions. Furthermore, they’ll be able to expand on these skills with others who have similar interests in technology.

5. Increase Employability in Today’s Tech Driven Marketplace

Regardless of what industry you or your teen ends up with as a long-term career, many employers recognize an appreciation for applications. Here, a recent Career Foundry blog post talks about the value of learning to code to getting hired.

Despite the rapid growth of the use of technology in our everyday lives, there is a large technical skills gap in Canada that is hampering our ranking amongst competitive countries. Though teens may feel that they, as one person, can’t improve Canada’s innovation ranking or make any significant impact on our technology-driven economy, the fact is, every coding savvy Canadian will make a difference in future years. As the first generation of true digital natives, today’s teens will need to save the world in terms of:

• Creating environmentally friendly, sustainable energy alternatives
• Facilitating the preservation of Canadian historical archives and cultural data
• Creating solutions on how to solve problems in industries such as healthcare, telecommunications and financial services
• Increasing the role that the Information Communications Technology plays in the future of Canada’s economy as non-renewable resources like oil and gas take on a lesser role in transportation and our economy as a whole

If you or your teen wants to improve the chances in becoming a successful, creative and competent professional in any chosen profession, there are countless benefits to be had for them in learning how to code. Have you or your teen found a benefit to learning to code that we’ve forgotten to include? Tell us about it in the comments section below!