You say that like it's a bad thing. But it's really a good thing, for both the general population and also for those select few who do know how to program.
(Also, I'd bet that the percentage of students who can program is a lot higher now than it was when you were in junior high.)
I don't know about percentages, but I would bet that when I was in junior high, students who learned programming took it much more seriously than students who do today.
You say that like it's a bad thing. But it's really a good thing, for both the general population and also for those select few who do know how to program.
(Also, I'd bet that the percentage of students who can program is a lot higher now than it was when you were in junior high.)