meh, while Python is the modern Basic and general all-round utility, it's not IMHO a very good first language, with quite extensive (and sometimes messy) syntax

meh, while Python is the modern Basic and general all-round utility, it's not IMHO a very good first language, with quite extensive (and sometimes messy) syntax, not to mention the glaring mistake (again very IMHO) of significant-whitespace. Scratch, and other block codes are a good first contact, but for text languages, I think something like Lua is a much simpler, and therefore better introduction. And it's great for games (love2d, pico8/tic80, roblox, etc), which is what can really motivate kids.