this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2026
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me_irl
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That's a huge difference ๐ it's the same story with SAT scores, private tutoring is going to be incredibly effective compared to self guided study, it's ridiculous to argue otherwise.
And that's not work ethic? Jesus Christ.
Self guided study is per definition more work ethic than a tutor brought in by the parents/guardians.
Not really. Work ethic by definition is simply how hard you work at whatever you're doing. If somebody's working every single day for hours a day whether it's with somebody or without somebody that is literally the fucking definition of work ethic quit trying to make fucking excuses because you couldn't fucking succeed at something.
No, that wasn't the point I was getting at. There are certainly kids with a private sports coach or tutor that also have a great work ethic. I would hope most of them do to take full advantage of the gift they're being given.
But it's important to note the difference in effort required. A coach or a tutor acts like a multiplier of effort. Someone who puts in dozens of hours of hard work with self guided training is going to see worse results than someone with the same level of effort guided by a private coach.
It's important to note this because it means that sometimes even those that apply more effort end up behind. You could imagine a kid half-heartedly applying himself in private coaching lessons for tennis, because he doesn't like it that much and his parents push him to do it, and then another kid might try extremely hard to train in tennis on his own, without a private coach because his parents can't afford one. As someone who believes in the importance of work ethic, you'd probably like to imagine that the hard work pays off and that the kid without a coach still comes out on top, but I think the sad reality is that the kid with a coach is going to have a huge advantage in most cases, even if they didn't work as hard. Then we get back to the original message from this post; what does the poor kid without a coach hear when he loses? You should've just worked harder. With no mention that the deck was stacked against him from the start.
I agree that some people get the wrong takeaway from these circumstances and decide it's not even worth it to try, and that takeaway should definitely be discouraged. But I think it's also harmful to downplay these unfair circumstances; we should be striving to create a more fair world. Unfortunately, the people with the most to gain from preserving this unfair status quo are also the people that hold all the power. It's an uphill battle, but definitely one worth fighting.