A mum-of-six has divided opinion after striking up a discussion over the new normal communication methods beyond the school gates – and ‘breed’ of parents she has to deal with
The summer holidays are well and truly over and parents are deep into the new school year. You might have found yourself added to a brand new group for the whole class or even the entire year group if your child has just started school. But, parents might want to accept the invitation to a Whatsapp group with caution; you are likely to receive a steady stream of messages – non-uniform day, the sports day, the latest letter from the head teacher, all with a hefty side dose of competitive parenting.
A mum-of-six, who had her first child at 18, and has a 10-year age gap between her third and fourth, has been left stunned by the modern way parents communicate beyond the school gates. She admitted she is not impressed with the “new breeds” of mums she encounters now.
Recently with her youngest child starting reception, she noticed the big change. She found herself out of sync with the modern tactics.
Carla, took to her TikTok page and said in a recent clip: “I had my first child at 18 and between my third and my fourth there’s a 10-year difference.
“Now, Rome has just done reception and the f***ing class Whatsapp group.”
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One thing that Carla could not get over is how party invites are sent out now. She said: “Do you know that basically no one sends out party invites?
“I declined the Whatsapp group for months and months and months and someone said ‘oh, did you get so-and-so’s party invite’.” She said she had never received any invitations – and was left confused.
“Anyway, turns out he missed loads of parties,” the mum confessed.
She added: “I just thought they were being rude, but no actually it’s because they only go on the class Whatsapp. Why does no one print s*** out any more or tell you?”.
She has been surprised by how much some parents share in the groups, admitting that she could never imagine doing the same.
Carla commented: “These women are next level. The new breed of mums is crazy, like no my kind of people, crazy. Vanilla…like let’s do it all by WhatsApp. They have WhatApps after WhatsApps after WhatsApps.”
Carla said she has the group muted, and will check it around one a week to see if there is a party invitation or important information. “Other than that, no thank you,” she added.
While joining the groups can provide quick updates and a sense of community among parents, you can access most important information through the school’s official channels. You can choose to opt out if you find the groups overwhelming; they are not mandatory.
‘The groups fill me with dread’
Other mums rushed to agree with the mum. “I hate all the WhatsApp groups, it’s awful,” added one parent. Agreeing, one other said: “I reluctantly joined one, it’s muted and archived 24/7.”
One mum shared: “I got invited to the reception WhatsApp group for September, in April. I said no thanks, I get my info direct from the school. If you want to talk and get to know me and my family, chat with me at the gate and exchange numbers. The end. I’m not in any of them, and won’t be.”
“As a teacher, they fill me with dread,” another said.
Realising how times have certainly changed, another mum said: “So glad there was no WhatsApp groups when my son was in school, I’d have been kicked out of them all.”
‘The WhatsApp chat is helpfu’
However, not everyone agreed with the mum. “Don’t think it’s new breed of mums, just think it’s how it’s done nowadays,” pointed out another parent.
One other said they find the groups useful, writing: “I need the group so I can get the key info. Otherwise, I’d have to give up my job so I could read all the emails the school sends.”
Another who approved of the chats, said: “Paper invites get lost, we had that in school, everyone has a phone so more chance to get to the mum. School communication can be shocking so the Whatsapp chat is helpful for anything that gets missed.”
One other noted: “It [the invite] goes in a group and I private message because we aren’t allowed to know names now, so if I can’t be there to hand them out personally, the teacher does it in front of the class so the ones who aren’t invited probably sit and wait for their names to be called out and I can’t deal with that.”
What do you think about the modern way of sharing school information among parents? Comment below.