Speaking as a 17 year old myself, the way I got into programming was automating. It could be small things, like breaking open a slow dreary web portal and downl

Speaking as a 17 year old myself, the way I got into programming was automating. It could be small things, like breaking open a slow dreary web portal and download off things that one might need so as to avoid interacting with the portal, or help out a local business with some repetitive tasks, whatever floats their boat. After they have gotten a hang of it, I would probably have a gentle introduction to the SICP, but thats maybe just me.