Omg my child’s class WhatsApp group is so annoying. Would I be unreasonable to leave it?

[Waterwaterwater1]

There is major fury on it absolutely all the time about anything.

If anyone says anything against the fury, they get shouted down.

It’s a really annoying group and is making me like the parents less.

If I left, people would notice. Politically, that feels a bit bold.

Would you leave?

(Silencing WhatsApp doesn’t work out for me. I’m someone who has to tidy away unread notifications or unread emails etc. It would drive me mad to see loads of messages unread there.)

I found that when I recently upgraded my phone, none of my Whatsapp chats or contacts moved across with everything else...

You could try that.

Mute it?!

I would just mute it. Some of these mammys can get quite nasty over things like that. Best to keep the peace and just ignore them. I actually hate group chats myself.

It's easy to leave a WA group if you're not a regular contributor.

A brief, cheery message then off you pop.

If you're not getting involved in the arguments, no-one will care .

Is there another parent who you could ask to pass on anything useful?

I feel so lucky, my son's year 2 WhatsApp group has been a place of solace since he started in Reception - just fantastic luck it's a group of wise and witty women who don't take school life too seriously! They are supportive but also hilarious by turns. By all accounts the other year groups are pretty toxic so I think I've just got lucky there. But if my group was like yours I would certainly leave it. Not worth your time!

There's never been a better time to leave as you won't see any of them for months until school goes back. Nothing important is going to happen before then anyway. You can always rejoin just before school starts in case there is any useful messages.

If anyone does mention it when you go back you can just say, "Did I leave? Must have accidentally pressed the wrong thing, oops."

Plausible excuse + ''See you all for real in September....hopefully (several grinning faces).'

@Waterwaterwater1 it will just say

@Waterwaterwater1 left te group so they will all see regardless of what time you do it.

Just open the thread so they show as not read if you hate unread messages but just dont read them, luckily mine is quite quiet but I can imagine what goes on.

I set up our class WhatsApp group (please don't shoot me! ) and thankfully so far it's been pleasant. I don't think any of the mums on it would be at all bothered if anyone left it, and it wouldn't make me view or treat them any differently. Some people just don't like groups. I do find it easier to find out little things, and it's useful for reminders/parties, but if it isn't doing that for you and its turning nasty, just leave it. Just drop a note saying 'doing a group clean up, see you on the playground in Sept!' if you feel the need to say something. And enjoy your freedom after!

My mate is a teacher and left her kid’s group as couldn’t bear it.

Luckily they only came in for me when my youngest was in y6!

I left the group when DS went to High School. It was full of mums constantly trying to out do one another and who were horrified when I got a bus to a birthday party in town! (Before COVID)). My friend has stayed in it and sends me screenshots sometimes - they have lost their minds during lockdown. High school coming off very badly against the beloved Primary - which they all slagged off when the kids were there!

I have two of these groups that irritate me and I wish I left at the start but didn’t. Doh! I have muted both I don’t see if they’ve sent a message (I too hate notifications not being dealt with) and I just glance to see if anything important is on the unread messages when I go on my WhatsApp for someone else.

Sounds like my DD's Year group chat :)

You do get to feel sorry for teachers after reading the messages for a bit - you definitely realise how it's impossible to please all the parents all the time.

Most of the messages are around communication. The school simultaneously manages to provide too much communication, not enough communication, communication too early, communication too late, not enough information, too much information, not the right information and (my personal favourite) is responsible for one poster's son not getting a non-very-important-letter even though it later transpired he'd left it in his locker.

I suggest turn off notifications, and scroll through very quickly (without reading) every so often - that will clear off the unread flags. Then you have the group if you need to post or if there is a particularly topic of interest and you can ignore the rest.

I would stay on. I get that it is annoying but there's only four weeks of term time left, then presume the venting would stop and things would resume as normal in the group in sept?

"Is anyone else having trouble with WhatsApp? It keeps freezing!"

Then block them.

Just say you're deleting the app for the summer to 'focus on your family' and you'll see them all in September. Then leave and don't return.
Yanbu, unless you've got a good bunch of parents you get along with these WhatsApp groups are more hassle than they're worth.

Just say you're deleting the app for the summer to 'focus on your family' and you'll see them all in September. Then leave and don't return.
Yanbu, unless you've got a good bunch of parents you get along with these WhatsApp groups are more hassle than they're worth.

My class group chat is pretty nice TBH, no real drama as of yet. However, the volume of messages during lockdown was driving me mad. Like many, I’m WFH with DC at home so am pretty busy as it is and I couldn’t keep up. I muted it as others have suggested and dip in and out when I get a chance/feel like it. If anyone is trying to message me directly they @ my name and I get a notification - otherwise I’m none the wiser whether chat is happening or not unless I look.

Just leave. Several years ago I left a school parents WhatsApp group as absolutely nothing was relevant on it and one mother seemed to be plugging eyelash and nail extensions on a daily basis.

Mute it. Then you'll know what parents and playdates to avoid.

I’ve left our class groups and suggested they set up separate groups where only the school announcements, events or major incidents were placed. This works much better. There is no discussion at all but those who want the inane chatter can still have it.

I’ve muted the annoying group chats on my WhatsApp. Don’t get any notifications at all.

I have to get rid of notifications too - my DH has about 15000 unread emails and it makes me itch just looking at that red blob on his phone 😂

I left a group chat once, I thought I could just sneak away quietly but it leaves a little announcement on the group chat. It all kicked off and someone re-added me. I’ve just muted it now

I also mute and scroll down without reading every now and then, on both class chats. Would never join on my own accord but Parent peer pressure is a sure thing in playground life. Luckily I managed to avoid the fb group for one of them as I said I Hardly go on there anymore. The last morning of primary school I will take great delight in coming out of all the groups.

Mute or leave . Personally I’d leave . I left a FB local friends group early on in the proceedings due to hysteria from one or two individuals which I could well do without as I was working on the frontline .

Try to push towards a FB group instead! I absolutely hate Whatsapp class groups and fight very strongly everytime someone tries to impose one.

It's easier to keep my privacy with FB than sharing my mobile with everybody.

I can ignore FB!

You don't have to scroll through tens or hundreds of message to find the info you need.
FB has a search option!

People can rant and rage by commenting on a post that you can safely ignore and still have a glance at other posts that might be of interest.

Totally worth opening a FB account just for the school communication!