Class WhatsApp groups- 50+ messages a day

[Jamb16]

I am part of my child’s class WhatsApp group however I am getting constant messages which start at 6am up until about midnight. I have stopped the notifications however as soon as I get a message from somebody else on WhatsApp it shows I have 20 unread messages and feel I need to check them in case it is important although it is usually people repeating the same thing really. Party invitations etc go out on here and other notices so don’t feel like I can leave the group however I feel like I can never switch off, the messages went on all weekend too, even Saturday night. The times I don’t check the messages for a day Mums will speak to me on the school run about their child that has hurt themselves, been ill etc, and when I ask them about it and they realise I haven’t seen the messages they have sent on the group about it they seem offended and I don’t want to offend anybody! I do all the school runs, after school clubs etc for my children including on the weekend and I am a bit of an introvert and exhausted and feel like I need one day at the weekend where I get a break from people apart from my family and a chance to switch off! Anyone experiencing the same or any tips to try and switch off? TIA

Just leave the group. You're still get invited to parties, that's not the only way invitations get sent out

Swipe right on the chat thread and 'archive' the thread

the number of messages will appear in small writing at the top but it's not staring you in the face. Check it once a week

Some parents have actually only sent an invite on WhatsApp although some do paper invitations too it has meant my child missed out on two parties and was upset about it. Until then I hadn’t joined the WhatsApp group as I suspected there would be a lot of messages although I didn’t realise at that point party invites would go out on there.

That's insane. Checking once a week is a good idea but with that volume of messages you would have to set aside hours to do it.

Would be good to create another group so you have an 'essentials' and 'chat' group. You could suggest it with the explanation that important stuff may be missed / lots of scrolling needed to find essential stuff. Then just ignore the chat. If I was in this group i would very much thank you for suggesting it!!!

Yes exactly, it is taking ages to scroll through it all! To be honest I am not sure I am brave enough to suggest that in case it offends others as a lot of people seem to send so many messages, often just chatting and I don’t really understand how they have time to, even on a morning getting ready for school there can be twenty messages and I find it is really distracting me. I only work part time and I am finding it too much to deal with on top of keeping in touch with family etc and all the other jobs to do!

Put the group under "archive" on your WhatsApp app. You will still get the messages but they won't add to your "unread messages" count on the app.

I have muted the notifications which I thought would stop messages coming through altogether until I unmute it every few days but as soon as somebody else sends me a message I see there are lots to read and I know I could just ignore it but I feel compelled to read them in case it is important plus so I can just get the messages read and out of the way so they don’t build up to hundreds! I may just have to have the willpower to not click on them even if I can see them!

Just don't read it. Archive it and forget about it. Be more confident. If someone says why didn't you read it on the group say you can't keep up with so many messages.

"Hi guys, sorry too many messages on here for me to keep up. Am archiving this chat so if you want anything from me specifically please contact me direct. Thanks Jamb16 (xyz's mum)

Thanks everyone! Will just check once a week I think

That's a shame about not being invited to the party. I did send a WhatsApp only invitation to my child's party, as it was just a covid-times after school cake and play in the park. However, I did ask the office for a class list and worked out who wasn't in the group and sent a handwritten letter via the teacher. (I managed to get a new parent who works full time and didn't do the school run into the group which was fab)

You can ask to be tagged in anything very important like party invitations using the @ symbol but it doesn't mean anyone would do it. Maybe search for party and birthday regularly to make sure you don't miss anything when looking back?