I think
Pascal is a better statically typed procedural language to learn than even BASIC, especially with excellent text books like
Oh Pascal! which, despite its name, teaches general programming and good practices.
Also, if you're willing to learn a scripting language like
Python, I would recommend considering
Ruby, instead. It is just as powerful and more consistent, which may help the learning curve. I'm a little reticent to recommend learning an
object oriented language straight off the bat but it's far from impossible. Especially since such scripting languages (whether it be Ruby, Python, or PERL) are immediately useful, which can help motivate new programmers to practice and push themselves to learn more as their scripts/programs become more powerful and useful...