The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

What the absolute fuck?

I honestly thought it was a spoof when I first saw it.

But no … it’s deadly serious.

A visual of a kid who can’t be more than 3 … holding an adult-sized tennis racket … on a full-size tennis court … with a headline that suggests this is a company that can help your child become a professional athlete.

And if the idea of pushing a 3 year old to be a pro isn’t horrible enough, you then discover it’s a bloody private wealth company promoting that they can find tax benefits for sending your kid to a private school.

That’s right, your kid is a tax write-off.

The absolute fuckers.

OK, I admit I have a massive problem with private schools. Education … good education … should be free for all. Not because I’m some socialist fool [though I am a socialist fool] but because the smarter the country, the more prosperous the country.

Education is an investment in a nations future.

I hate schools can be massive profit centres. That some have more money than Councils, so can buy land for their elite kids, that could otherwise be turned into homes or parks or anything other than another elitist space.

OK, so there are some exceptions.

If your child has certain learning difficulties, I would understand it.

As I wrote a while back, too many schools are forced to teach as a one-size-fits-all, collective.

Where kids aren’t actually learning, they’re being taught to remember.

It’s why I’m so grateful to Otis’ school with his recent dysgraphia diagnosis.

Where they see his potential, not his problems.

Of course, if that wasn’t the case … then we would have to find a school that would help him on his terms, not their schedule.

And as much as I am vehemently opposed to private education, I’d have to do it.

But even then, it wouldn’t be about elitism, but equality. A chance for him to have a chance.

And while I get all parents want the best for their kids, a child is not a tax write-off and while Apollo Private Wealth are trying to position themselves as the ‘caring and considerate financial partner’, their motives are as transparent as a greenhouse.