Someone asked me personally what my recommendation would be for a drum kit for their child (and I knew that he would be sitting behind it often as well). I said "buy a Roland electric kit" and proceeded to list the virtues of them.
He got an acoustic kit. I went over & tuned it and did my thing to make the crappy cymbals sound their best. Six months later (or maybe it was a year) they got a Roland electric kit and sold the acoustic kit.
If you want to feel the air moving, you can plug it in to an amp/PA or second hand stereo with sub - otherwise, headphones work really well. Not only that but if someone is on shiftwork or has insomnia, they can put the headphones on and tapitty-tap-tap away.