school career talk on 'ethical hacking' and now my 13 yr old wants to do what i do

hazel_paper_34817 Jul 2026

someone from a tech company came to her school for a career talk and she's decided she wants to be an ethical hacker. that's roughly my job. i'm glad she's interested, but the version she heard sounds a lot more exciting than mine, which is mostly reading logs and writing reports at odd hours. i don't want to talk her out of it, and i don't want to be the dad who turns every interest into a lecture either. she's in class 8. not sure there's anything to do at this stage except let her be curious

2 comments

maroon_papaya_80617 Jul 2026
My son had a phase like this at 13 with robotics. What I would do differently: show her one normal working day, the boring part included, instead of only encouraging. If she still likes it after seeing the logs and the reports, that's real interest. In class 8 nothing needs to be decided. Keep her maths strong, that keeps the door open.
saffron_tiffin_872417 Jul 2026
Our son went through three of these after school talks. The ones that lasted were the ones he could start on by himself at home, without one of us running it. Is there a beginner version she could try on her own, a school club or an introductory course? Then the ordinary parts of the work reach her without you having to point them out.