before starting my studies of computer science I hadn't programmed one line of code. actually, this helped me learning Miranda (Haskell) while the other students, used to C, needed some time to learn how a functional language works.
for me it was just mathematics saved as a computer program.
I studied computer science because I was good in maths and because I could handle a computer and its pitfalls very well.

as the others said: ask your son, don't force him. he might want to do something he later doesn't any more, but you can't be sure either if your decision is right or wrong.

if my dad had tried to convince me to program, I probably wouldn't program now.

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