Your tutor is supposed to be the person your student can count on to assist them in problematic situations concerning their studies. Yet, many parents have concerns regarding tutoring, and in a blog written by the Huffington Post, the author, himself a tutor, describes a father's paranoia in hiring a biology tutor. In this extreme example, the author was hired as a biology tutor, but not to tutor the family's struggling sophomore. Instead, the tutor was hired to convince the father of the academic benefits of tutoring. The father believed tutoring to be nothing more than a band-aid or worse, a crutch, that students use to clean up their mess when they lack effort and enthusiasm to succeed.

For us at Fortune Tutoring, and likely other tutors, this reaction comes to us at no surprise. And frankly, we can't blame the father for having concerns regarding the biology tutor. The tutor-student-parent relationship is an incredibly delicate one that takes time and effort to positively solidify. If the parents have doubts about the tutor or doubts that the student will benefit from tutoring, odds are that the relationship will be even harder to create.

This is why we stress mentoring. Because it takes a mentor to be able to foster such a delicate relationship between tutor, student, and parent. A student needs that passion for learning, otherwise a poorly performing student continues to perform poorly. The right tutor can change the student's thinking. But getting there takes some time.

Parents will likely have to interview several tutors and see how they mesh with their student. A balance between a friend and an authority figure is best. No need for a taskmaster or BFF. The focus is on the student's growth and academic success, so a personality match combined with the ability to work with tutor will usually serve to create a positive relationship.

It's no wonder the father had reservations about the biology tutor. It's also no wonder that other parents are concerned about tutoring. They haven't found a mentor for their student.