Police arrest parents who slate school on class WhatsApp

[noblegiraffe]

A primary school sought advice from the police after '“a high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts” that had become upsetting for staff, parents and governors.' and the police response was to send 6 officers to their house to arrest the couple making the posts and put them in a cell all day.

Although the couple sound like an absolute pain in the arse who should pack it in, 6 police officers seems like a teensy bit of overkill, particularly with the amount of crime currently going uninvestigated. But with schools faced with spiralling numbers of vexatious parental complaints, something needs to happen. I think some unions are starting to offer legal advice and template solicitor letters for this situation.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/d8c8566b-99b1-45c6-814b-008042d74a3a?shareToken=6deab807d148cf7695ed4d9d3664c51e

6 officers will be down to the nature of the threats or other intel they have in the parents. If the parents are know to the police to be violent or aggressive towards police then they will need to keep themsleve safe.

No, not over the top. Good for the school. I’m a headteacher and the amount of abuse from parents that schools and heads are being subjected to has gone through the roof over the last few years. School staff need to be protected from harassment.

Good! We had this problem at my school a few years ago, and the teacher being targeted nearly had a breakdown. The ringleader of it all is still horrible to teachers, but thankfully the other parents involved took the school’s warning seriously and distanced themselves from that parent.

The bloke looks to be the local Lib Dem councillor. I'm not sure Lib Dems are generally violent and aggressive towards the police.

Yes, they absolutely do.

Perhaps seeing the police turning up at this couple's house might make some other parents pause for thought before sending another obnoxious, profanity-littered missive, or starting another facebook campaign group or posting on MN slagging off named teachers.

They sound like a pair of utter gobshites.

Very poor example to set for their kids. Especially with use of messaging and SM.
All they need to do is corral a group of parents (which is looks like what they were intending) and there’s a whole mob against the school.

Maybe after that episode, they’ll know what it’s like to feel harassed, threatened and afraid.

People like this make my blood boil. We (school) work so hard to do the best for our pupils and some parents think they have the right to behave like this. I’ve seen the consequences to school staff too many times and I absolutely support the school’s approach.

I am glad they turneed up mob handed like that, teach the idiots a lesson

The articles says the volume of officers required was due to needing to collect electronic devices and provide care for the children so totally understandable.

The parents sound ridiculous and if their actions weren’t so damaging it would be laughable. They themselves admitted to sending dozens of email threads to the school with multiple emails in some threads, it is likely therefore that the poor teachers and admin staff were dealing with virtually daily contact from this pair of idiots. This absolutely makes them vexatious complainants. I’ve dealt with a person like this in a previous job. They are relentless, illogical and delusional as to their own importance and intelligence.

Well done to the school for fighting back and the police for the robust action.

I always think if you hate the school that much, just take your kids out and send them to a different one.

They sent a large volume of emails questioning the recruitment process of a new headteacher and demanded a meeting with other parents. They made numerous social media posts disparaging chatting shit about the school and were banned from the premises. Not even allowed to attend parents evening or school performances.

They sound like absolute fucking nightmares and I'm glad they got a shock. It might warn other busy body parents that think they can dictate how a school is run just because their precious offspring goes there. Also I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but they look like difficult, entitled twats from the DM sad face pic.

I think one of the complainants is a times journalist.

Good. Bully.

Good.
If you have issues with the school, social media isn't the place to start a slagging off match. Hiding behind social media is a shit way to deal with things. There are processes of complaints if not happy and can remove child from school.if so unhappy.

For a school to contact the police it sound to have been particularly vicious and on-going. A total upsetting distraction to teachers wanting to get on with their jobs.

Good.

They sound dreadful.

It's a sad state that schools need to now consider legal advise on how to deal with parents. But I understand why.

And it will affect their daughter, personally I would keep my distance from a family like that, I mean it takes a special something if you are banned from a school nativity play. I am assuming there was concern they would spoil it for others, because of course their daughter is the only child that matters in the entire school. Every school has them nowadays, they really do make things harder for all involved.

Good. The culture of making vile, malicious comments on social media needs stamping down on. These fucking idiots will have a taste of being exposed for what they are.

I have read the article and one thing that stood out to me was that the parents were not permitted to meet with the child’s teacher to discuss how to administer medication to their epileptic child and were told to send emails. (They had been banned from the school)

whatever the thoughts on the parents - child safety should be first.

also - it was in what’s app groups. This seems terrifying that you can be arrested for what you put in what’s app??

I think they also posted on a large facebook group and bombarded various staff members at the school with emails.

Expressing your concerns once is absolutely fine, continuing to do so to the extent you are BANNED FROM THE PREMISES is a whole other level of crazy! Their poor kid.

Honestly we've had a couple like this in our class whatsapp and they are impossible to talk to and so aggressively negative a lot of the mums who joined to help each other with homework and PE kit reminders just couldn't face being in the groups anymore.

The sad thing is they were in the wrong but they won't ever see it.

The irony....

The parents sound like proper arseholes. I wonder why he stopped being a governor?

If you have issues with school then take it up with school don't start slating them all over social media it doesn't achieve anything.

They sound like a PITA but there is no way this is a good use of police resources or in the public interest. One officer coming round to have a chat, maybe.

it’s absurd when the police don’t attend for shoplifting and so many crimes are unsolved.

On what basis were they actually arrested? Because it's not illegal to whinge in a WhatsApp group.

It’s hard because obviously the times article is skewed! They said they had sent 45 email threads over a 6 month period but they had been told they could only use email and their daughter had high needs so kind of makes sense

i don’t get the obsession on the head teacher recruitment - fine to question it obviously but very weird to get hung up on it!