Heh, no hurt feelings here and I don't think you really needed to make a throwaway account just to play devil's advocate. I guess "how do I quit my day job?" sounds a bit off when you put it like that. I recognize that most good teachers work more than 40 hours a week and I wouldn't mind doing that. I didn't bring this up yet, but my wife is a social worker and I admire her for what she does every day, helping people who really need it. I just feel like if I could teach kids advanced computer topics it would be a better (subjective) use of my talent than working directly or indirectly for the military. If I just wanted money the path of least resistance is right in front of me. I could leverage this internship for any entry level software engineering job and at a lot of companies / locations be making plenty to provide for my family. I just wouldn't be happy.
I didn't make a throwaway to play Devil's Advocate. I mostly lurk here. I have an old account that I haven't used for three years, and felt weird logging into it.
The reason I took so much offense to your post is that it seems to capitalize "instant virtuoso" phenomenon, where parents want to sacrifice their kids happiness in order to make them proficient at something to compete with others, often vicariously. It's a cycle that ends with burnt out kids who feel bad about themselves for no good reason. I sound dramatic until you see what actually happens to gifted kids who are unrealistically pushed from a young age (hint: they kill themselves).
Like I said, I think trying to approach this as "giving kids marketable skills" is the wrong way to go. Teach a 6-year-old Python and HTML to be marketable? Yikes. You're mostly going to appeal to pushy parents, who think their kid will be the next Zuckerberg (cringe) if they pay for your lessons. Not only does that suck for the kid, but that'll suck for you too! It'll be frustrating and, if you care, heartbreaking to push 20 kids along at the same time.
IMO, what you want to cultivate in kids is a spark, not a concrete list of skills. Children don't work as plumbers for a reason.
I completely understand your view of your life, and you have my respect for thinking of something different. I have much the same problem, except I've lost most of my interest in computing-related things going into adulthood. I quit a Fortune 500 job where everyone drove BMW's and Mercedes, while being recognized as "talented", because I wasn't happy. I totally understand.
I'm simply providing some brutal feedback because it all hits close to home. I'm not trying to crush your dreams. I don't believe in that.
