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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

HOW do people not know this yet???

92 replies

tututastic · 03/02/2021 11:24

DD6 is in year 1, class of 25 children. In each lockdown the school has had 2 live lessons a week on Teams and the rest is self taught.

Without fail, there are 5 + kids whose parents refuse to mute their mics. Why??? The poor teacher has posted messages and asks spends most of the lesson asking kids to all mute whilst she’s speaking but the same handful ignore her constantly. I just can’t understand why? Their kids interrupt constantly, there are younger kids and pets making noise in the background, and the feedback makes the call awful for everyone else. I know from a private chat that one of DD’s friends with SEN who is sensitive to lots of conflicting voices has been driven off the call. DD really struggles to follow through the noise as well.

AIBu to not understand people who don’t mute themselves as a courtesy in large online meetings?

OP posts:

StrawberrySquash · 03/02/2021 11:26

Let the teacher know they can mute all themselves?

SurvivalIsInsufficient · 03/02/2021 11:26

Some people don't understand how it works, or bother to find out.

5+ though, every time? Hard to believe. Has happened once on my DS's daily live class in 4 weeks.

MissBPotter · 03/02/2021 11:26

So annoying I agree. I also find the parents who totally answer for their dc very annoying (dc doesn’t say a word) and also the parents who whisper the answers to their dc. Pointless really.

MissBPotter · 03/02/2021 11:27

But yes the teacher should mute everyone!

FreeButtonBee · 03/02/2021 11:33

I emailed my kids' teacher yesterday on this. Same kids making inane comments every day and interrupting the class. It's nice to have a bit of chat but when it's 'how do you spell ?' then the teacher needs to crack down on it by manually muting or being very firm on what is allowed as an interruption.

That said, in work today, the Big Boss had to tell everyone to mute their phones and we're all Grown Ups and have been working from home for nearly a year so it is understandable that kids struggle!

merryhollybright · 03/02/2021 11:34

I can't speak for everyone but my DD is in year 1 and does a zoom call in the morning. I can't sit with her all the time as I have younger children too who need my attention, and sometimes I've popped my head round the door to find that she's been fiddling with the buttons on my laptop and has turned her sound on.
If parents are working or busy doing other things maybe they just don't realise? And the children won't be doing it on purpose, at that age they are loud.
However I know from when I have sat in on her chats that there are, I suspect, some parents who deliberately keep the sound on so they can show off what they've been doing with the children!

DynamoKev · 03/02/2021 11:35

See also half the fuckers I work with - why is it so hard?

ethelredonagoodday · 03/02/2021 11:37

I agree, even people I work with don't do this. FFS it's not difficult! I don't want to hear you banging away on your keyboard, or clearing your throat, or whatever! Gah!!!!

GloriaGuadalajara · 03/02/2021 11:38

I know my 4yo has accidentally unmuted the microphone while I've had to take his baby sister off for a nappy change so if they're kids who are young enough not to be sure how to do it themselves, and parents can't be with them every second, that may be why?

WorraLiberty · 03/02/2021 11:41

Why is the teacher not muting them?

An0n0n0n · 03/02/2021 11:42

I'm pretty sure the host can mute everyone.

TillyTopper · 03/02/2021 11:43

The teacher herself can "mute all". Not difficult.

I have been really shocked by the level of technical ineptitude seen from some. However, private tutors and private schools (yes I've experienced of both) seem to grasp it quickly and use it productively.

Shelovesamystery · 03/02/2021 11:46

We have the same on DD's zoom lessons. The teacher mutes everyone but either the children or the parents then unmute 🙄 the poor teacher is constantly having to mute again. This is Y1.

Original poster

tututastic · 03/02/2021 11:48

Ah right, I only ever use teams for school calls so didn’t know about the mute all facility, I’ll pass that on to the teacher. I just really feel for her. She’s also clearly new to the technology and juggling young kids so I don’t want her to feel criticised but she might not know about ‘mute all’ so I’ll pass that on in a private message.

OP posts:

Original poster

tututastic · 03/02/2021 11:50

I completely understand parents are juggling and I don’t mean the additional mess up. I’m also WFH ft and have another DC who is 4. I mean the parents who persistently fail to mute for the entire call, every time. Why do they do it?

OP posts:

Original poster

tututastic · 03/02/2021 11:52

@GloriaGuadalajara

@GloriaGuadalajara completely get your situation, my 4 yo has done the same a few times but I mean the people who persistently refuse to mute

OP posts:

Original poster

tututastic · 03/02/2021 11:53

@ethelredonagoodday

I agree, even people I work with don't do this. FFS it's not difficult! I don't want to hear you banging away on your keyboard, or clearing your throat, or whatever! Gah!!!!

Yep, I was treated to the sound of a technical expert clearly unloading his dishwasher on a conference call last week

OP posts:

lockedownloretta · 03/02/2021 11:54

This is one if the many reasons why 'live lesdons- aren't the gold standard of remote learning that people seem to think they are.

TheRuleofStix · 03/02/2021 11:55

@TillyTopper yes state school teachers are so inferior it's a disgrace.

unmarkedbythat · 03/02/2021 11:55

HOW can the teacher not know yet that she can mute everyone's mic's for them?

I mean the parents who persistently fail to mute for the entire call, every time. Why do they do it?
Pick from a range of options:
-parents are not actually present/ actively supervising
-parents don't understand what to do (just as the teacher doesn't

understand she can mute them herself)
-parents don't care
-parents think it vitally important that should they or their child have something they want to say that they can do so instantly and without pausing a second or two to click to unmute
-parents think it funny that this winds people up

growinggreyer · 03/02/2021 11:57

@TillyTopper

The teacher herself can "mute all". Not difficult.

Gosh yes, only private school teachers know how to use Teams. Those of us who have worked in both sectors only pretend not to know how to use technology so that parents who don't pay for their child's education can get a poorer service.

Lovemusic33 · 03/02/2021 11:57

Dd struggles with this, usually the teacher will remind everyone at the beginning of each lesson to mute but some times dd forgets. Dd goes to a sn school so luckily they are usually only 8 kids in her classes, I can imagine it being a nightmare with 20-30 kids.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 03/02/2021 11:57

She can mute all and spotlight herself too.

Some people don’t believe instructions and reminders apply to them.

FenEel · 03/02/2021 11:58

I can hear DS's teacher (Year 6) sometimes saying "Can you mute yourself please Lewis/ Ethan/ Maria/ whoever" with siblings etc in the background, and I also wonder why she doesn't mute all. However more often I am hearing "Can you unmute yourself please lovely" when she wants someone to answer a question or "can you turn your camera on so we can see you", so it seems more the opposite problem!

lavenderlou · 03/02/2021 11:59

As a teacher, you can mute all. However, unless you want them all to be silent for the entire session, and not answer any questions, you have to enable the option for participants to unmute themselves, which they can do whenever they want.

Hence, at the beginning of the session, I mute everyone. Inevitably someone unmutes themselves almost immediately. Then I mute them again. Then they unmute themselves. It doesn't matter how many times you say it, the same kids seem to keep doing it. Hence the flow of whatever you are saying keeps being interrupted.

The only option really is to have a set of rules whereby you have agreed with parents that children who can't follow them will have to leave the meeting. At the moment, my class (KS1) are only having fun sessions so I don't want to boot anyone out, but if it's a repeat offender amongst older pupils I would do this.

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