One of the best things that I ever participated in as a young person was becoming a Amateur (Ham) Radio operator back in the early 1970's. It was one of the best things a younger person could take up, it was educational since there was a test that you had to pass before you would be allowed to get on the air with a ham radio.
The test go from pretty easy for the entry level class of Technician to fairly difficult for the top level class of Amateur Extra class. Today there are three classes of license, beginning with the Technician class, then the General class and the Extra class license....