Usually, I agree entirely with this state of mind. There's a definite trend of trying to get kids involved in programming at as young an age as possible, especially by those who have kids of their own. Sometimes, I often get the feeling that the kid might not actually care too much for programming, but are being forced to sit through their parents hobby because "it's fun".
However, I used to write code for fun when I was a kid. I still went out with friends, played football, got girlfriends, and did all the usual rebellious teen stuff. However, my downtime (between gaming, watching TV, and other stuff) was spent writing websites and scripts. By thirteen, I was running a fairly sizable web forum, and had written a few addons for vBulletin (albeit, fairly crappy ones). I would have LOVED to work in a real company, working with real developers, and having the chance to work with people that will tell me exactly where I'm going wrong.
I've worked in a few offices where we've had some work experience kids come in, and some that have worked as a part of an apprenticeship. They love working in a real office, and even harsh employers make it as fun as possible.
However, I used to write code for fun when I was a kid. I still went out with friends, played football, got girlfriends, and did all the usual rebellious teen stuff. However, my downtime (between gaming, watching TV, and other stuff) was spent writing websites and scripts. By thirteen, I was running a fairly sizable web forum, and had written a few addons for vBulletin (albeit, fairly crappy ones). I would have LOVED to work in a real company, working with real developers, and having the chance to work with people that will tell me exactly where I'm going wrong.
I've worked in a few offices where we've had some work experience kids come in, and some that have worked as a part of an apprenticeship. They love working in a real office, and even harsh employers make it as fun as possible.