I follow most of his threads with interest, and to some degree concern. He doesn't have the guiding hand (s)that myself and many others had when we were his age. It's a dangerous field to be in, and not just from running a saw. So many other thing to go wrong and maim or kill you. Shorter bars, have always posesed greater chance for kickback. Jumping to a shorter bar increases that chance, although I'll agree not much more then the 20" he was using. Still it's ever present danger.
My neighbor, Anderson, does quite a bit of saw carvings. If the young lad lived a bit closer I'd happily introduce the two.