Can I learn programming through modding minecraft?

Hello i'm 12 turning 13, I really want to be a game designer, I have ordered books from homeschoolprogramming, but I keep forgetting to do them and it's not just not learning it, I found a site called http://www.youthdigital.com, it says you can learn java through modding minecraft, I would love to learn programming while having fun at the same time, but the thing is, is it good? Can anyone here tell me a review? Thanks. Also some extra details, my brother was being a **** head and saying I will never be able to game design because only genius people can, is that true, i'm not the smartest person.

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I have tried and it is possible to do if you can find a good tutorial. I have tried just from youtube and always get through doing some basic programming but never get far as I have a short attention span. It is possible just look for it on youtube.