Little Minds & Huge Imaginations: What You Need to Know About Youth & Tech
Ions ago there was a well-known cartoon – The Jetsons – which featured robotic maids and cars that flew between planets. I am willing to bet that somewhere between 1975 and the early 80’s there were little boys playing with hot wheels, spinning and flipping them around in mid-air.
For sure, at least one of those little boys became a billionaire from those early imaginative years. Elan Musk had to have been the type of kid who was always imagining things and looking past what the norm of his times offered as a way of life. His think-outside-the-box mentality is most certainly the cause for a 21.4 billion dollar net worth and a host of tech, science and innovation companies under his belt. The world we once only saw in animated television seems much more likely with the rise of corporations like SpaceX and Ipsoft. Who would have ever imagined how much one person’s imagination would be a foreshadowing of the future? Well clearly, the creators of the hit animated show must have thought so.
The pioneering we see happening in science and technology, leads me to think about my own aspirations (and even sometimes limited scope) of using my potential to be uber-creative, and hopefully monetize my ideas in a manner that could change my life, my families and the world around me. But people like Musk also make me consider where the differences lie in our upbringing and that of our youth today. I wonder what my mom could have done differently to respond more effectively to my natural interests and talents. I think of our current overall reaction to youth as the adults who have such a great impact on their freedoms (or lack thereof) to be expressive and pursue their own ideas and creative interests. Part of my concern, is for our seemingly dulled imaginations as adults – the older we get the more difficult it is to act outside of the boxes we have been groomed to fit inside of; the less likely we are to engage in risky and outwardly foolish behavior. So, we scorn youth for desiring to do these things and we penalize them for thinking and acting in ways that challenge us and make others uncomfortable. But then I am also concerned about the need for resources and inclusion amongst communities and demographics of youth that are underserved or adversely disadvantaged both educationally and economically. So I took the liberty to look a little further at the local footprint of scientific and technological on-goings in California with a particular concentration in the Bay Area. I wanted to see if we have really gotten away from stimulating our children based on our own limitations or if there is any local traction in the national (and even global) movement strengthen our kids’ capabilities and skills to participate in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) innovation and creative design. What I found may be surprising if you were like me and had no clue these things were going on in our neighborhoods.
Did you know, that just down the highway from both Oakland and San Francisco depending on which way you are traveling is an Artificial Intelligence Center designed completely around the youth? The main function of The Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Center is to enhance students’ knowledge about both Artificial Intelligence (or AI) and Machine Learning (or ML). You can bring your kids out to the center on the Wednesdays to learn about these hot topics and explore other ways to use their creative minds for new inventions and creations they may have even been considering privately any way. The cost is far from free but well worth saving up by not eating out or swapping toys for tech days to get out of the house and possibly discover some commonality in interests and past-times. Even better the center is co-ed which further encourages all youth to pursue things that intrigue them and make them happy to learn.
Slide up north on 880 highway towards Oakland and we find The Hidden Genius Project. This is an organization that caters to Black male youth. They are focused on training and molding these young men to be prepared and successful in STEM careers which is the fastest growing set of industries in the United States. Being well adjusted in STEM - which includes everything from household appliances to digital advancements – almost guarantees these young leaders will be able to build viable lifestyles for themselves and develop a healthy financial portfolio for their families. ‘The Project’ is 15 months and according to the website it is intensive and fully immersing. The fact that it is placed in the heart of a city starving for this type of support and a bulk of youth with ample interest and potential in these fields make the program necessary and highly relevant. Some of their supporters or partners are Best Buy, Union Bank, Dropbox, and Verizon. They have also gotten strong support and partnership from The 49ers Foundation, Google, Warriors Community Foundation and Oaklandish who is another strong leader and advocate for opportunities for inclusion and education in STEM for communities in need and having a substantial population of youth. To date, they have served over 3,500 young men since 2012 and provided over 98,000 hours of direct training to these innovators and creative minds.
Next, pullover and log into the world wide web of opportunities and search for Girls Who Code. What you’ll discover is a national network of free, paid and even stipends-based programs catering to the inclusion and advancement of girls in STEM industries and careers. This gem is an online platform designed to make finding programs for girls a lot easier. The age ranges of the programs vary from 3rd to 12th graders and the skill levels are open to all girls from beginners to advanced learners. From what I researched, these are safe spaces for young future decision-makers and originators to be groomed into science, design, tech or engineering in a manners that allows them to be themselves and removes unnecessary diversions from learning and engaging in the tech-economy. ‘The Code’ has a hub of programs that are available both after school and during the summer breaks, making it convenient for various familial structures or for young adults who work part-time and during off-seasons from primary school. The engrossed learning settings commonly take place in schools, universities and tech companies, which further enhances a sensibility that these girls can participate in the academic developments of the universities around them or in other communities as they learn about these schools.
Because there is such a vast host of other organizations and programs readily available to foster creativity and ingenuity in our budding change-makers I felt the need to at least spotlight a few more of these organizations that may not be on all of our radars. Below is a list of places to partner up your favorite gamer, scientist, chemist, designer, architect or animato with people and places that will encourage them to create the things that come to mind and stretch them to think outside of the boxes we should have never forced each other into in the first place. So here’s to exploration, animation, innovation and new places. Let’s all explore the possibilities of what can happen when we teach out youth to think limitlessly and be their own version of amazing. Great things often stem from simply beginnings. Happy Learning!
Below is a short list of ample services for youth in the Bay Area / Northern California
Bay Area Coding Program*
BayCAT Academy*
Best Buy Teen Tech Center
Block School
Bricks4School
First Step Coding
Future Engineers Camp
Hack The Hood Youth Programs*
High School Engineer Camp
Seven Tepees Youth Program*
Star Kids Academy*
STEM @ SMCGOV (County of San Mateo)
STEM 4 Kids Summer Camp*
10 Tech
The Crucible Community Arts & Youth Programs*
The Social Engineering Project*
United Roots*
YouSTEM
Youth Beat*
Youth Radio*
*Free services for minors under 18, some may offer resources for young adults 18-24 as well.
