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How To Get a Game-Obsessed Teenager Into Coding?
looseBits writes "I have a friend whose 14-year-old son spends all his time gaming, like any normal teenager. However, my friend would like to find a more productive interest for him and asked me how to get him into coding. When I started coding, it was on the Apple II, and one could quickly write code that was almost as interesting as commercially available software. Now, times have changed and it would probably take years of study if starting from scratch to write something anyone would find mildly interesting. Does anyone have experience in getting their children into programming? How did you keep them interested if the only thing they can do after a week is make the computer count to 10 and dump it on the screen?"
I may be too old, but I think the father can test the waters with his kid in a similar fashion to how I was introduced to programming: simple programs in simple programming languages. In school I was walked through "Hello, world" in BASIC and found it interesting. There's something there in the quick feedback between coding and running the code that will either trip something in the kid's mind where he is interested in this or he isn't. I say start with BASIC, Pascal, or Java, something relatively easy. Start with simple, pre-done programs that offer a quick reward for the beginning programmer. If it sticks to the point where the kid starts reading and experimenting on his own, then great. If not, hopefully the father will be open enough to explore other possible interests with his child.
I would be worried that the father would try and throw the kid into the deep-end of the pool right away, in which case the kid is going to develop an aversion to programming. Start simple with some basic flow-charting and some basic programs. Maybe get some electronics kits to see if hardware appeals more than software.
One note. As the youngest of three sons, I programmed on my own and in conjunction with a few friends. Generally speaking, until the news media starting hyping programming as a great career opportunity none of our parents seemed particularly interested in what we were doing so long as our grades were decent and we weren't getting in to trouble. Whether its programming, playing basketball, or anything else, so long as the father takes the time to participate in the activity with his child and encourage the child to pursue his interests (other than pro-gamer), I think good will come of it.
I was in a programming class once and a fellow student asked me how I had solved a particularly difficult programming problem we had been given. I excitedly told him how I had come up with a clever solution that I was particularly proud of and about how I had awoken my roommate jumping up and down with delight when I did it. My fellow student just stared at me blankly, clearing not getting why I had been so excited at coming up with a unique solution to the problem. And that is when I knew that I was meant to be a programmer and he wasn't.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Give him the choice between: A. Writing pseudocode to mow a yard and see if *you* can "execute" it; or B. Mow the yard himself. Bonus: Either one can generate a living wage.
I have the same issue, with 12 and 13 year old sons. programming is a unique frame of mind and not everyone finds it as pasionate. I recently taught the oldest how to create domains and gave him access to a webserver and he is obsessed with coding html. ( www.kirkster.ky and www.simster.ky ) Dont know how much of it is original or just cut and paste but it looks impressive. With the other, being a bit more focused and detailed, i started building a graphics engine from scratch, and included him in the entire process, with the intentions of adding physics, collision, joints etc for a virtual robotic workbench, the trick here is to merge programming with something the kid finds rewarding, not just raw programming for programming sake. Its not structured but it does jump start the process.
This is the age where boys seem to be "lost" the most, and parents seem to get the most concerned about them.
I work with boys (save the jokes), and I've seen it happen in several cases, right around this 13-15 age range. They suddenly find something they're interested in, and they just DO it.
In one case, it was a kid who just suddenly found video games boring, and moved on to photography and writing. He's very creative, and he found this very rewarding.
My own son; was a Guitar Hero monster. And I told him (joking): "if you spent this much time playing a REAL guitar, you'd be a really kick ass guitarist, instead of just beating your friends at a video game that will be obsolete in 2 years. Which do you think you'll be thankful for, when you're my age?"
He sold his xbox360, and all his games, (I miss Halo 2. . . ) and instead of spending 6 hrs a day playing video games, he plays his guitar for 6 hours a day. And he's pretty amazing. Even if his dreams of rock stardom don't work out, he's going to have a skill and a developed talent he's going to use the rest of his life.
So - don't "push" him in any direction. But DO expose him to other things. (I think it helps if some of the exposure happened before video games came in). He'll push himself in whichever direction works for him.
My armchair-psychologist idea of why this happens, is they're still searching for an identity. They're trying to figure out who they are. You can also make them somewhat accountable for the decisions they make too. (ie. there are consequences to spending all your time on video games. . . failing at real life).
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
I'm unclear on whether this dig at the end of your otherwise reasonable post is flamebait, or if I misunderstand what you mean be 'a lot of time', or if I just completely disagree with your premise. I'm far past 16 years old, and I still play games on my PC and consoles. Not every evening, not every weekend, and not the number and variety of games that I played when I was much younger. But still, regularly enough that I consider myself to be a 'gamer' when I buy PC hardware. I look forward to certain releases, like Fallout 3 or Assassin's Creed 2. I've got plenty of interesting, important things to think about. I have a full-time job in software development, and I'm starting graduate school in the fall. For me, gaming can be a fun way to relax in the evening. I don't feel compelled to think about interesting, important things at every waking moment. Do I need some help growing up, or can I spend my free time on the pursuits of my choice?
It's a free and open-source Quake-like FPS. Usually the progression goes like this: Playing -> Mapping -> Scripting -> Coding. I've seen that progression played out several times in the community and myself (full disclosure: I moderate the forums and Quadropolis.us, the primary source for maps, mods, etc.).
Mapping is done in real time and in-game. A mere tap of the E key will switch between editing and playing, so you can see and test what you're doing immediately.
It's also designed to be light on resources. I use the (very underpowered!) open-source radeon driver to drive my Radeon X1600 Pro, and I can get a consistent 30 FPS with the eyecandy barely dialed back.
For a little more detail, here's the description from cubeengine.com: