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?"

Comments

Re:Same way you get your kids interested in gaming

[Anonymous Coward]

Get them started on the classics.

Or grow a spine, be a fucking parent, and quit relying on discussion forums to help you raise your child.

Then we'd stop seeing "How to get child X to do Y activity" and parents might instead concern themselves with "how to encourage him/her to discover their own special talents and their own genius instead of following my dictation." They could do that on their own without resorting to a bunch of strangers who have never met the individual in question.

Now get off my lawn.

Re:You don't

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Are you a troll or just unable to see the world in anything other than black and white?