Code for What?

- Blurb -

Coding for a purpose- helping young people combine journalism, data, design, and code to make media that makes a difference. Educators are urged to teach "code for all"-to make a specialized field accessible for students usually excluded from it. In Code for What? Clifford Lee and Elisabeth Soep instead ask the question, "code for what? " What if coding were a justice-driven medium for storytelling rather than a narrow technical skill? What if "democratizing" computer science went beyond the usual one-off workshop and empowered youth to create digital products for social impact? Lee and Soep answer these questions with stories of a diverse group of young people in Oakland, California, who combine journalism, data, design, and code to create media that make a difference. These teenage and young adult producers created interactive projects that explored gendered and racialized dress code policies in schools; designed tools for LBGTQ+ youth experiencing discrimination; investigated facial recognition software and what can be done about it; and developed a mobile app to promote mental health through self-awareness and outreach for support, and more, for distribution to audiences that could reach into the millions. Working with educators and media professionals at YR Media, an award-winning organization that helps young people from underserved communities build skills in media, journalism, and the arts, these teens found their own vibrant answers to "why code? " They code for insight, connection and community, accountability, creative expression, joy, and hope.