I feel like many here are chastising OP when he's trying to come up with a solution to his friend's problem. Of course he shouldn't try to force the kid into something he may not want, but it sounds to me like he wants suggestions on how he might see if programming interests this kid, not how he can brainwash him into doing it. If the kid doesn't like it, try another interest.
This hits close to home for me because I am a gamer that was exposed to programming by my uncle at a young age, and it changed my life for the better. He gave me the source to a BASIC program and told me I should try changing some variables and look at how it worked. He didn't want to force me to be like him, just see if it would interest me. I was instantly taken with it and I've been hooked ever since.
What if he had never shown me that source code because others told him my mother should "be a fucking parent?"
Slashdot Mirror
I feel like many here are chastising OP when he's trying to come up with a solution to his friend's problem. Of course he shouldn't try to force the kid into something he may not want, but it sounds to me like he wants suggestions on how he might see if programming interests this kid, not how he can brainwash him into doing it. If the kid doesn't like it, try another interest.
This hits close to home for me because I am a gamer that was exposed to programming by my uncle at a young age, and it changed my life for the better. He gave me the source to a BASIC program and told me I should try changing some variables and look at how it worked. He didn't want to force me to be like him, just see if it would interest me. I was instantly taken with it and I've been hooked ever since.
What if he had never shown me that source code because others told him my mother should "be a fucking parent?"
Yes, very deserving of the Borg Gates icon.