This is for fearless kids. Most kids, I think, would be scared to death by these suggestions. It's an embarrassment minefield. It's better to start experimentin

This is for fearless kids. Most kids, I think, would be scared to death by these suggestions. It's an embarrassment minefield. It's better to start experimenting in a more private way in places where you are clearly welcome - student competitions, newbie-friendly websites, publishing stuff quietly without advertising it, reading and lurking, submitting tiny contributions that are clearly wanted, etc. Kids these days do not suffer from scarcity of opportunities. They suffer from lack of confidence. They need to gain confidence through little successes. Sending them out into the world doing things way above their current skill level is going to result in confidence-crushing failures.