Tutors at Tutor.com have come to realize the dangers associated with the video sessions set to be implemented soon. Live sessions using video are currently an optional tutoring choice offered to higher education students requesting scheduled appointments. Oppose Tutor​.​com Mandating Video Sessions For Tutors by signing this petition, to maintain the anonymity-based structure and integrity of the platform. 

The following points demonstrate why Tutor.com cannot ethically require or mandate tutors to accept any video sessions from perspectives of the platform, students, and tutors. 

Privacy and Safety Concerns: Tutor.com prides itself on security and privacy.  All of the sessions are recorded, and minor students and tutors are prohibited from sharing personal information.  Additionally, tutors are not allowed to have personal contact with any student outside of the classroom.  These are good safeguards, but they are not enough in this quickly changing digital world. Tutors with unique first names and/or profile pictures can be easily searched online.  And although recording sessions could aid an investigation into holding offending parties accountable, that does nothing to prevent mishaps to begin with.  

If a student has recorded a video of a tutor and replaced the actually spoken words with AI-generated offensive language, that will be nearly impossible to erase from the internet.  If a student or tutor behaves indecently, then the damage is already done.  Not only can violent or sexual actions not be unseen, they may become legal issues.  If a young student exposes him/herself on camera, this could be considered child pornography that the tutor in session has been unwittingly exposed to.  

Student Learning: A lot of students with Tutor.com are required to use the service, and most, if not all, tutors occasionally report students who log in and do not take their work seriously.  These are not the same students who either sign up themselves or whose parents sign them up with their legal names for private tutoring services.  In those situations, private tutors know their clients and are usually compensated by more than double the amount that Tutor.com pays.  Minor students at Tutor.com are not guaranteed to be supervised or in a controlled environment.  Furthermore, having visual access into a student’s personal space places extra burden on tutors to report anything suspicious.  

Voice sessions are already mandated for all tutors upon request. These are effective for auditory and ELL learners, as well as those with less than average typing skills.  Visual learners still have access to the whiteboard, shared screens, and Microsoft Word to follow along.  Still, voice sessions are by far safer than video sessions. There is nothing a video session can accomplish that a voice session cannot. Tutor.com has been successfully tutoring students without video since 1998.

Tutors' agreed upon working conditions: Many people drawn to remote work have young children, and there is little anyone can do to prevent their own minor children from entering a room in their own home.  In a voice session, a person can immediately mute the mic.  Some people’s cameras might not have the capability to blur the background, and even if they do possess that technology, software malfunctions are not uncommon.

Many tutors were hired prior to the video requirement being made.  The anonymous nature of Tutor.com that appealed to so many tutors initially is the very formula that prevents it from being an acceptable platform for mandated video sessions. Others hired more recently consented to the use of video because they were excited for the flexible work-at-home opportunity to help students. However, with the onset of video nearing, we have come to the conclusion that this format is not compatible with Tutor.com’s mission and values. 

Petitioners demand Tutor.com NOT TO IMPLEMENT VIDEO SESSIONS, to prioritize the privacy, safety, and educational effectiveness for students and tutors.