Estonian school kids learn programming

http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/04/estonia-code-academy/
Estonia is implementing a new education program that will have 100 percent of publicly educated students learning to write code.
ProgreTiiger education will start with students in the first grade, which starts around the age of 7 or 8 for Estonians. The compsci education will continue through a student’s final years of public school...

programming is not something someone should be encouraged to go into professionally. it's extremely boring and extremely unrewarding, probably the worst profession one could have.