One-on-one interaction beats the telephone almost every time. Case in point? When you call customer service and are greeted by someone who barely speaks English or worse, is unfamiliar with the product in question, does it make you happy? Probably not.
If a child is struggling in school, the same adage holds true. Sure, there are a number of free websites where a student can find educational tools, but when she asks why she keeps getting question No. 3 wrong on Mrs. Smith’s geometry assignment, a general video isn’t going to be much help.
What does that have to do with you? In this year’s The Global Competitiveness Report, the United States fell behind Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore. How can we climb back to No. 1? By raising our kids to be highly educated individuals and creating lucrative jobs stateside to avoid a brain-drain situation.
Revamping the US economy is a tall order, but one thing you can do right now is tutor a student in your area for free. It’ll take an hour out of your week, tops, and who knows? You may just end up as a guest of the White House when she becomes the next leader of the free world. How do you get started? Head over to the American Express Members Project‘s Facebook page and pledge your commitment. They’ll send you a list of opportunities in your area.
Imagine if just one-fourth of Americans did this. Our hunch is that it would put America back on top. At just one hour a week, that’s a bit return on a small investment. Get involved today!
Photo by Jörg Weingrill via Flickr.