The £180,000 BabyTutor

 When I saw the news story that a family was advertising for a £180,000-a-year tutor for their one-year-old son, I thought it was crazy - but I wasn't surprised. Tutoring has become a huge industry and at the top end there is an education arms race going on as some of the world's wealthiest people seek new ways to buy their children advantages...

Kiss Me, Baby
Frederick James Shields (1833-1911)
Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-ND] 

I have also worked for very wealthy people, living as part of their household, on their  yachts, or at their ski chalets or polo ranches...

It is unusual for somebody to be advertising such a highly remunerated position to look after such a young child and shape their life so intensively. The advert... said that the family near London was "searching for a tutor to provide a comprehensive British cultural environment" for their child. The successful applicant will have attended "the best schools and universities" in England, be from a "socially appropriate background" and arrive "polished" with an RP [Received Pronunciation] accent, knowledge of musical theory, cricket, tennis, rugby, polo and rowing and familiarity with early-years education. The family want their child to attend a school such as Eton, St Paul's or Westminster and believe it is important that his education starts early to prepare him.  

However skewed their vision, I don't doubt that these parents are operating from the same impulses that all parents have. They want the best for their child and for him to be successful in life. But I am uncomfortable that they have such a clear view of how they want to mold this little human being and that they think they can do so by throwing enough money and tutor hours at him to control everything. It's a form of social engineering.

A good nursery should be quite sufficient for a young child. But the advert says that the parents felt that hiring a tutor when their older child was five was too late.

This doesn't seem to be about education. This is about wanting the child to fit in with his peers when he eventually goes to the kind of school the parents want...

They inhabit the mad world of extreme wealth where people have so much money that they leave nothing to chance and try to circumvent every negative eventuality. Many of these people are in London...

The damage of such an approach is that children aren't given any time  to themselves to develop their interests and to let their personalities emerge because their lives are so tightly scheduled. School and homework are just the beginning of it...

(Sarah Thomas, The Times, 2025)

It would be interesting to know whether these parents consulted any education professionals before advertising for a tutor for their one year old. The advert doesn't seem to take into account the emotional development of the child - surely one of the most important factors in the early years of life. However many material benefits you can lavish on a child there must also be kindness, laughter and love in order for an individual to truly thrive.