As others have said, if a 14 year old kid is forced to do anything they will hate it. However, I think it would be fairly easy to test the waters to see if the kid might develop a genuine interest in programming.
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.
The idea of throwing computers at the many problems of developing nations has long seemed ludicrous to me. However, I did volunteer for a time with the WiderNet Project at the University of Iowa.
Part of the Widernet Project is to send rehabilitated (yet quite old) computer equipment to Africa. Yet the major component of the project is to seek out copyright permission from publishers of websites and, afterward, to copy those websites onto what are called "eGranaries". In essence, they want to send the internet sans bandwidth requirements to schools and universities in the developing world.
What charities need to understand is that computers by themselves are worthless, they require a data infrastructure to be worth something.
When I was in college I followed (to a small degree) the advise of an economics professor I had by putting a couple hundreds of dollars into I-Bonds. I was able to buy them at my local bank, though you can also get them directly from the Treasury Department. They can be bought at reasonably low denominations, and you pay face-value (to get a $100 I-Bond you pay $100).
The great thing about I-bonds is that they are designed to make sure you don't lose money to inflation. You are guaranteed to earn a certain amount of interest (1%-3%) OVER inflation.
When I graduated from college I found myself in a tough situation (bad job market of summer 2002, etc). I cashed in those bonds, bought only a couple years earlier. Whereas other bonds wouldn't even have matured at that point, I was actually made a small increase off them. True, it would've been much better if I could've shelved them for longer, but, alas.
Anyway, when looking to invest remember the grand pyramid of stocks (risk), cash (safe, no gain), and bonds (safe, small gain)...and balance your investments according to how much of a gambler you want to be.
Have You Considered Non-Profits
on
The Living Dilbert?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I'm going to start off by saying that I am not an IT professional...so, my observations are not as well-informed as they could be.
However, after working as a clerk for a non-profit at the University of Iowa, Widernet, it seems to me that there are at least a few opportunities for tech positions that put mission over politics. Widernet hired programmers as their main workforce...the pay wasn't great, the work schedule was very flexible, and the environment was great...particularly since it was a fairly regular part of the job to meet with students and teachers from Africa who were making use of the project.
It seems to me that non-profits would be in need of skilled and experienced IT profs (being an Air Force vet would definitely, IMO, qualify you in both those areas). The drawback would be that you would be making a fraction of your corporate potential. The advantages would include less politics, a sense of worth about what you are accomplishing, and potentially a better-grade of co-worker.
There are numerous other sites, just check Google. Additionally, if you get in contact with your local United Way (or similar group) that dispense funds to non-profits, they should be able to give a detailed list of local non-profits.
Slashdot Mirror
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.
The idea of throwing computers at the many problems of developing nations has long seemed ludicrous to me. However, I did volunteer for a time with the WiderNet Project at the University of Iowa. Part of the Widernet Project is to send rehabilitated (yet quite old) computer equipment to Africa. Yet the major component of the project is to seek out copyright permission from publishers of websites and, afterward, to copy those websites onto what are called "eGranaries". In essence, they want to send the internet sans bandwidth requirements to schools and universities in the developing world. What charities need to understand is that computers by themselves are worthless, they require a data infrastructure to be worth something.
When I was in college I followed (to a small degree) the advise of an economics professor I had by putting a couple hundreds of dollars into I-Bonds. I was able to buy them at my local bank, though you can also get them directly from the Treasury Department. They can be bought at reasonably low denominations, and you pay face-value (to get a $100 I-Bond you pay $100).
The great thing about I-bonds is that they are designed to make sure you don't lose money to inflation. You are guaranteed to earn a certain amount of interest (1%-3%) OVER inflation.
When I graduated from college I found myself in a tough situation (bad job market of summer 2002, etc). I cashed in those bonds, bought only a couple years earlier. Whereas other bonds wouldn't even have matured at that point, I was actually made a small increase off them. True, it would've been much better if I could've shelved them for longer, but, alas.
Anyway, when looking to invest remember the grand pyramid of stocks (risk), cash (safe, no gain), and bonds (safe, small gain)...and balance your investments according to how much of a gambler you want to be.
However, after working as a clerk for a non-profit at the University of Iowa, Widernet, it seems to me that there are at least a few opportunities for tech positions that put mission over politics. Widernet hired programmers as their main workforce...the pay wasn't great, the work schedule was very flexible, and the environment was great...particularly since it was a fairly regular part of the job to meet with students and teachers from Africa who were making use of the project.
It seems to me that non-profits would be in need of skilled and experienced IT profs (being an Air Force vet would definitely, IMO, qualify you in both those areas). The drawback would be that you would be making a fraction of your corporate potential. The advantages would include less politics, a sense of worth about what you are accomplishing, and potentially a better-grade of co-worker.
Websites to check out:
Charity.org
Idealist.org
Non Profit Jobs
There are numerous other sites, just check Google. Additionally, if you get in contact with your local United Way (or similar group) that dispense funds to non-profits, they should be able to give a detailed list of local non-profits.