All kids are different for sure but I'd find a great shooting load for that gun and use it. My girls are 11 and 8. They have killed 17 birds between them and most were with 3" nitros in straight 7's. My 11 yr old has killed 2 with a 3" 12ga also. They practice with light loads and never say a word about recoil when a turkey is involved. If they ever said it hurt, I would certainly back off but so far, so good.