[ushakov]

i didn’t say coding was bad for kids

i myself started at 12 (actually with BASIC!) and while there’s no denial that it has helped my career at later point in life, it has completely alienated me from the rest of people

my schoolmates still introduce me as “nerd” to other people (not in front of me of course)

not that i care that much, but it still hurts

[samus]

So, if you discovered your (hypothetical or not) kid being interested in solving puzzles and programming, would you stop them? Instead of encouraging them to find some offline hobbies and spending time with other people to balance it out?

Also, people can be a**holes to others for any and no reason. Being different is just the most common and a seemingly rational one. It's an important life lesson to learn that it's often not possible to change people, and frequently not even worth trying. Adapting to them to fit their small worldview is even less promising.

[anthomtb]

I too learned BASIC when I was 12 and often felt alienated from my peers.

Turns out the alienation was from being a know-it-all, argumentative asshole and had very little to do with my programming skills. Most of my classmates probably would have found the programming somewhat interesting had I not lofted it over their heads as a badge of self superiority.

[ushakov]

i wasn't the kind of a person you're describing

it just so happened that my knowledge helped me perform better at IT class than anybody else, so they got pissed at me for being able to comprehend something they themselves don't

[anthomtb]

This makes one wonder what era and culture in which you grew up.

You really got bullied just for being the most knowledgeable one in class? If so that’s awful and I’m sorry for what you had to go through.

[lolinder]

For what it's worth, it sounds like you had a childhood that was very different than what kids today are growing up with, at least in my area.

By around 2014 the cool kids in my local high school were the nerds, and it's pretty much stayed that way. I worked with a neighborhood youth group where the kid who was at the center of everything was super into fortnite and coding. When he introduced himself to me the first thing he said was "I'm pretty much a nerd"—and he said it with pride! A few of the other kids felt the need to establish their nerd cred, too. This was in a neighborhood in the poorest part of a nearly-rural town. Their parents were mostly in trades, not tech.

"Nerd" has become a badge of honor that is sought after and claimed by kids, not a derogatory label assigned by others.