WhatsApp group etiquette

[bettycat81]

Class group chat for parents and carers of new year 7's. I know that a child from my DC's primary school uses the phone of their parent/carer as their own and would access other parent chat groups in primary. Should I make the new group aware? If so how?

I have asked who is commenting and they have declared themselves to be the parent but from the language used I strongly suspect it to be the child.

We all have admin status.

No need to make anyone aware - plenty of children access their parents phones!

Not sure what the big deal is as it shouldn't be a place for discussing individual children anyway.

That’s weird as fuck. I would phone the said parent/carer and talk to them directly. Do they even know this is happening.

Odd. I don't think this is normal and I'm a teacher.

Not sure what the big deal is as it shouldn't be a place for discussing individual children anyway

Are you for real? What if parents want to share an 18+ joke/meme (unlikely but possible) or some uncouth parents swear etc etc etc?

@Fishocado
Eh?
You think it’s ok for a primary school aged child to access adult only group chats and comment on them pretending to be someone else. OK then…

Are they trying to arrange a party and inviting only a certain group and excluding others?

@ZeroFuchsGiven

Not sure what the big deal is as it shouldn't be a place for discussing individual children anyway

Not even A is having trouble with question 2 and I can't help them can anyone help?

@bettycat81 - maybe a general message, along the lines of:

Quick reminder - some children use their parents’ phones, so best keep the conversation U rated.

I'm concerned about what this child is potentially exposed to now by using an adults phone. Even if the adult doesn't care for 18+ jokes etc it doesn't mean that they don't appear on the phone as they could be sent to them by friends, appear on Facebook feeds etc etc.

This is home schooling people isn’t it.
I cannot believe the parents think this is ok.and it’s not just your forum. They obviously have zero care or awareness of the dangers of the Internet for young people.

Does the parent in question know that their child uses their phone and writes in the group chat? If not then this is a good starting point, tell that parent. If they do maybe speak to them and ask them to make sure their DC doesn't pose as an adult in the chat. If the child sees anything that isn't age appropriate that is their parents probelm to deal with and may make them more careful about supervising their child's use of their phone.

I have tried texting and phoning and get no response. Messages have been seen and child is active in chats with their peers.

@bettycat81

Not sure what the big deal is as it shouldn't be a place for discussing individual children anyway

Not even A is having trouble with question 2 and I can't help them can anyone help?

I don’t understand what this means.

I wouldn’t think a year7 WhatsApp group was necessary. They’re just for primary school aren’t they?

Ignore me. I’ve just realised that was an example of a question that might be asked . Long day!

Is ditch the parent off the group tbh. It’s an adult space and if they’re allowing their kid access then it’s perfectly reasonable for you to just take them off the group.

Ask the group how they stop their kids finding out Santa isn't real. Might prompt a conversation with kid and their parent...

We've had a child in a parents' group before because parent did not have a smartphone, and I guess it could happen because a parent's English is not so good. I wouldn't be too quick to assume the worst, and I think a neutral comment like SDT suggested would be fine. I'm unsure if you are mainly concerned about the exposure to adult content, or the potential "deception" / child having access to your private conversation. If the latter, I would treat any whole class type group as public anyway.

Why on earth do you have a year 7 WhatsApp group? 🤣🤣

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

I wouldn’t think a year7 WhatsApp group was necessary. They’re just for primary school aren’t they?

Way to totally miss the whole point of the thread

It isn't right to have a child in a parents group for many reasons, if it was me I'd be carefully considering whether I needed to stay in the group

I mean a class whatsapp group isn't really the place to be sharing 18+ memes; it's there for discussion about class events.

So you are concerned that he's asking he's having (or someone else's child) is having a hard time with a question? Kids see that all the time in school :-)