I actually am very glad that we did not have computers in my school at the end of the 80ies. This was in Lithuania, then a part of the USSR. We had programming classes, so without the computers we were taught the basic concepts: variables, assignment, conditions, loops. Just concepts in a pseudolanguage. Later, when I had access to the computers learning the languages boiled down to "what's the syntax for this concept?" And then writing my programs with a pen and paper because I had no computer at home for a few more years.

Now I sometimes shake my head when I see comments like "I do not know programming, which language (or worse—fraamework) should I learn?" It is so tempting to say "duh, learn programming and worry about the languages later".