Actually Mr Chaser I've no problem with the idea of kids with
<200hrs sitting in the cockpit so long as they are confined to
the jump seat and do not touch anything. They can maintain
the flight plan, make position reports in CRZ, pull out/replace
the Jepps for the two pilots, organise the coffees and lunches,
ask any questions whatsover in order to learn the very basics,
and at the absolute discretion of both the FO and captain may
be permited for a limited time during the cruise to occupy the
RHS for some exposure. Of course while all this is going on he
is in the sim being checked to FO standards every 3 months.
After he's completed 1,000hr / 12 months on type (whichever
comes later) in this SO role he can then qualify for the full FO
line training course. During this training there will be at least
150 sectors training, 50 sectors of fine tuning, followed by 20
sectors of various real-life scenarios to prove that he won't kill
himself if something goes wrong (assuming the capt was not
in the cockpit).
If he passes he becomes an asset to the flight deck team and
not an irritating bloody headache. If he screws up he stays in
the jump seat.
Of course all this won't go down well with CEOs, as they only
concern themselves with how much their fat bonuses might
be reduced as a consequence.