New BP owner, concerned about temperament on Leucistic, think I made mistake

[bpnewbie42]

i just got a BEL, 2 year old male, with feed and shed logs from hatch date in 2012, gorgeous. He is to be our only snake, from a woman who only handled it rarely and even then with a hook. She bought it when it was a year old from a breeder, so the first year it wasnt handled much, if at all, and the women i bought him from had him a year and also didnt handle him.
SO. he is not crazy about being touched. he is head shy, fast and clearly scared of people. i've had balls over the past 40 years, just normals, etc and have known some great mellow balls who wold hang out with me for hours. that is what we wanted. we were seeking an adult albino but when this opportunity to get this blue eyed leucistic i couldnt turn it down.
so, even now as i am placing ads on ball sites local to so cal to trade him, i want to ask....
am i correct that changing a balls personality isnt really in the cards? or with lots of handling will he gentle down.
the woman i bought him from said he always hissed but never stuck, and in the time i've had him this is the same, he eats fine, but doesnt want to be touched if he has a choice.

I can surely find a nice mellow albino to trade him for, dont care that the monetary value isnt equal, but should i desist and wait? This is a snake who I had planned on having children hold, a part time classroom pet.
Thanks fo your advice to a newbie in Thousand Oaks, calif!