How to tame chat at the new online school gate

Ask any parent with a child at school about their experience with WhatsApp, and you will never hear the end of it.

The Meta-owned instant messaging service has become the go-to for communications between parents, and it is not unusual for one child to bring several WhatsApp groups into their parents’ lives.

Usually, there is some sort of official channel, with one-way communication from the crowned class parent to their subjects. Over time, others pop up: a less regulated thread in which anyone can post pleas for missing hats and requests for information about excursions, a group specific to the child’s class, another for just the girls or boys in the class, and separate threads for any after-school activity your child tries their hand at.

WhatsApp serves a purpose as the school newsletter for the modern era. Unfortunately, it has also become the gossipy digital school gate. And, as Christopher Harris writes in today’s Sun-Herald, these parent forums are an emerging problem for schools.

Eastern suburbs private school Cranbrook had to write to parents last week to shut down rumours about exactly what happened at a school camp after parent discussions spilled over into national headlines.

Cranbrook acting head Michele Marquet told parents on Monday that the rumours were “significantly impacting both the wellbeing of the students involved and the broader school community”.

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Educators speaking to The Sun-Herald on the record and anonymously have raised concerns about how parents’ use of WhatsApp has developed over time. While they appreciate an engaged parent base, there are issues when what is said in the WhatsApp thread is taken as gospel, and more serious concerns about the ramifications of opinions shared on WhatsApp groups about teachers and other students.

NSW Parents’ Council president Rose Cantali says part of the behaviour can be explained by parents wanting to protect their children, and advocate for them.

WhatsApp groups also provide a window in to what is happening at school for a generation of parents who have fewer hours not filled by paid work than their predecessors. It is not just the digital school gate; for the many families who cannot be around at 9am or 3pm – let alone spend time at the school volunteering for reading groups or going on excursions – these threads are a connection with the school community.