# @berta.codes on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DYmVfxNilQ6
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65728489-bertacodes-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e5b58cffae.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-21T11:27:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** BERTA MATULIAUSKIENE (@berta.codes) — https://gondola.cc/berta.codes

## Caption

I spent some time today teaching 13 and 14-year-olds what software engineering really is - the craft, not the buzzwords. What it actually means to build technology. We talked about software engineering. We talked about AI. And then we ran two experiments that taught the kids more than any slide could.

Experiment 1: The dopamine hit.

The kids built their own games - on their phones, in about two minutes - using Claude Code. Watching their faces when something they made actually worked was the moment. That spark of “… waiiiiiit, I can create this..?” is exactly why so many of us fell in love with this field in the first place.

Experiment 2: The frustration test.

Then they tried an app that deliberately breaks every UX and UI best practice - a solution made exactly for that purpose. Getting through the workflow was framed as a challenge, a game. Most of them wanted to quit within a minute. And that was the point.

Technology is never neutral. Good design can delight you. Bad design can quietly push you away. The same mechanics that make an app feel rewarding can also be used to manipulate the person using it.

These kids didn’t just hear that - they experienced it in their own hands. They felt the pull of a good product and the push of a bad one, and they understood, intuitively, that someone chose to make it that way.

The next generation of creators is more perceptive than we give them credit for. What they build matters - and so does how they build it.

#selftaughtdeveloper #mentoring #vibecoding

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 138
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- **Comments:** 11

## Tags

vibecoding, mentoring, selftaughtdeveloper

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