Your apologies have been noted Otto and Esenboga I hope you're over this.

Yes, I apologise to Esenboga and to all the other forum users which I might have offended through my harsh language.



I think I just need a holiday.

you should probably take a few days off if you feel you need time off. over-working can lead to a situation where everything gets to your nerves.

Sorry I can't help either Esenboga - but I had to post; couldn't help myself...

I have privately tutored many children (I'm a qualified teacher), both from very privileged families and from single-parent families where mum/dad makes real sacrifices to help their child in any way they can. Most would love to be in a position to 'tutor' their own children but need an 'expert' to help. I must agree with jojo about not judging others - we all do what we can to get by.

Esenboga, I hope your experiences of the forum improve and you're not left with too bad an impression of us

Thanks for the comments jojo and insomniac - no hard feelings at all. And I hope that things get better, Otto - I too am finding it hard to work after Easter. Don't know whether its the change in the weather or having had a few days off but I've spent most of the day staring out the window.

Bearing in mind that my original post was not opinion nor do I know Otto to be a "point-scoring male", I have just come across this in "The Guardian":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2054180,00.html

Thanks for posting the tutoring ad here Esenboga. I don't know if it's against the forum rules. I hope it's not. In my opinion, it shouldn't be as you are not trying to sell anything to anyone, but just letting other graduate students know about an opportunity. If it was my subject area, I would definitely be interested. Why not?

Well, Insomniac, I wouldn't really compare university students (who are usually in their 20s, grown up and adults) with school children needing tutorship. I think it's all about personal responsibility, I take personal responsibility for my inappropriate comments earlier and I think students should take responsibility for their learning at university in the first instance.

If there are problems, it's no problem to ask for help, but it seems like the original request was for the university exam period which would be too late anyway. Also, the original request focussed on a number of subjects which leads one to a number of further assumptions.

Esenboga, I think I need to stop posting here for a while. I don't know if I post because I procrastinate (and if that leads to frustration which results in inappropriate comments) or if I procrastinate because of this forum.

A student looking for help with their work, even going to the extend of asking his parents to solicit help from sources the student might not be able to reach, IS taking PERSONAL responsibility Otto.

I once paid a friend £8.50 an hour, out of my meagre stipend to tutor me in econometrics - simply because I needed to use it in my thesis at the time and I couldn't get my head round it.

Seeking personal responsibility is not limited to DIY, i.e. taking books and reading them on your own even when DESPITE YOUR GREATEST EFFORTS, you can't understand them.

In converse, if you've got this son who can't be bothered to take PERSONAL responsibility, as a parent you take that responsibility for them until such a time that they can handle responsibility themselves. On the other hand, if a student knows your parents are gonna take responsibility to get them a Tutor, why should they go through the pain of learning the stuff on their own. There are many too many angles to justify this scenario. I just think we should accept that there are many ways to skin a cat and everyone has to do what they have to do to skin their's. What matters for everyone is that they skin their cat - i'e graduate with a good degree, or that their child graduates with a good degree. Not how they end up doing that, willingness of the child's acknowledgement of personal responsibility not withstanding.