What Are We Doing When We Teach Computing in Schools?

Let me tell you a story.

When my son was in fifth grade, we went to a parent-teachers' evening. If you have ever been to one of these, you know the drill. You cross the school-gate line and trespass into classrooms that are normally forbidden territory. You gamely insert yourself into chairs designed for considerably smaller people. You walk around admiring nature tables, number lines, and colorful compilations of work accumulated over the school year. And as we wandered and admired we saw a colorful poster that said "SCIENCE: Gravity makes heavier things fall faster." This is what happened next: