Nanny advantage?

Many people in privileged societies go above and beyond simply sending their child to school for grades K-12. College attendance is now practically a given in middle-class society and above. \nPeople encourage their kids to participate in various sports, art classes, music lessons and other extracurricular clubs at school, all in the hopes of creating a "well-balanced" child; a child who "looks good on a college application." \nOur generation has also seen the rising popularity of extra learning opportunities provided by "learning centers" such as Score and Sylvan Learning Center. \nSome of us were enrolled in a once-a-week after-school Spanish class because Spanish was predicted to become almost as important as English in the United States. \nOh, but there's a new trend now; one that makes parents who give their children all that's mentioned above look like underachievers.\nWhat else could you possibly give your child, you ask? \nA Chinese-speaking nanny, of course!\nA recent article in BBC News online reported that companies who place nannies with families in New York are saying they have an increasing number of wealthy families requesting Chinese-speaking nannies, especially those who speak Mandarin, for their babies and young children.\nWhy?\nBecause of China's growing economy. Some parents want their offspring to get a head start in the business world -- even if that offspring is a year old. \nIn fact, these nannies are in such high demand that they can make an extra $20,000 a year more than the average nanny who can't speak Chinese. \nOne woman was even being fought over by two families and ended up with a $70,000 a year salary after the bidding was over.\nTo provide a frame of reference, the average starting salary for a business administration major is $37,368. Attention, all you Mandarin-speaking business majors! Quick! Quit the Kelley School and become nannies! \nThe average starting salary for a chemical engineer is $52,563. Somebody better drive up to Purdue and tell them they're getting shafted. \nAll bitter sarcasm aside, I can't help but wonder if paying someone's yearly salary for a Mandarin-speaking nanny is really worth it. \nLet's assume you get a Mandarin- speaking nanny for $50,000 a year for your child and then let's assume you keep her until he is about seven. Can a child master Mandarin in 7 years through limited interaction with a nanny? And if the child does master it, can he maintain that fluency of the language until he's 22 and graduated from college, ready to go out into the business world? Is the kid even going to go into business? Will the Interaction-with-China fervor have gone down by then? \nI dunno. Seems to me you could spend a good $350,000 for absolutely nothing. \nThis Chinese Nanny movement is nothing but a fad among wealthy families who have too much money to throw around. \nYou really want to secure your kids' future? Those thousands of dollars would be better spent in a trust fund.