Online Dating & Tutoring

I was at a conference recently and during a session on viral marketing, one of the panelists talked about the value of community-building – how beneficial it is to attract people to your site and motivate those loyal members to invite others. This is the key to the success of internet powerhouses like FaceBook and MySpace.

The panelist then cited the dichotomy of online dating sites. They are popular and used by many people who value the service, but those same people rarely tell their friends they are on the site. These sites may have loyal fans but those fans aren’t inclined to tell people they use the product or how well the service has worked for them.

As I listened, it struck me how many parents who have been using tutoring for their children for years do the same thing. Like online dating, tutoring is something people find worthwhile but they don’t tell anyone they are using it. Why is that? Why the “tutor-but-don’t-tell” practice? Are people embarrassed their children need help?

Tutoring is a sensible resource for all students – those who are struggling, the ones who are keeping up and students who want to get ahead. But some parents may feel there is a stigma attached to tutoring. The reality is, those parents are acting in their child’s best interest. Tutoring empowers children by helping them overcome educational obstacles. So why did my friends not want to tell anyone they were getting tutoring for their kids?

Or could they be trying to get a competitive edge for their kids? Friends are friends, but if your kid is competing with the neighbor’s kid for admission to the local university, I suppose there’s some logic to it. You would think though that kids who are in the same school, who have the same teachers, perhaps go to the same orthodontist, could each use tutoring to improve their situation.

If you’ve seen kids who were struggling and saw the effect it had on their self-esteem, then saw the effect that tutoring and the subsequent improvement had on them, you would agree that individualized help and attention is essential. I struggled with some key concepts in math and algebra, received tutoring and it made all the difference. Nothing is better than the smile on the face of a child who once struggled, and is now proud of their grades and accomplishments. You know that every child deserves tutoring.

Isn’t the world a better place if more students learn what they are supposed to and leave school as capable, skilled, productive young adults? Isn’t it better for society to make resources available to everyone which are proven effective?

I welcome your thoughts.

John Stuppy, john@tutorvista.com