PTA Online Chat Norms

HCES PTA Online Forum Norms

The ONLY official communication tool for Hunter College Elementary School (HCES) PTA is e-mail. Class Reps and community leaders are expected to communicate all essential school information and school-wide events via email, using HCES PTA class lists as appropriate. This is because not all parents or caretakers join or regularly monitor the chats, and some may drop off without notifying the group. 

 

We recognize that reliance on lighting-fast, third-party chat forums like WhatsApp has grown since the pandemic. Indeed, each grade, affinity group and committee has its own WhatsApp chat group, often set up by a parent or community leader. Nevertheless, the PTA Board would like to remind the community that such forums are not official forms of communication and therefore are not moderated by the PTA. Moreover, any opinions expressed belong to individual members and may not be representative of the PTA as whole.

 

In an effort to keep this communication outlet, the PTA Board has put together guidelines to help us build a strong, healthy community. Just as we consistently remind our kids about safety when using online forums, it is important to use judgment in these forum. If you opt-in to create, host or subscribe to an HCES-PTA-affiliated channel, we encourage you to follow these norms. 

The HCES PTA Community Tentpoles

  • Email = School Business. As not all parents opt-in to use WhatsApp, always use email to reach your entire class using your class’ PTA-generated email alias. This is also the preferred way to reach your PTA Board and the HCES Administration. Email is the best way to ensure everyone has a chance to participate in their child’s school experience. 
  • WhatsApp = Child-Related Support & Socializing. WhatsApp should be used for repeating information already communicated via email. It is also appropriate for things like celebrating achievements, crowd-sourcing camps or missing homeworks, real-time reminders, and… you get the gist. 
  • Specific HCES related issues or concerns. Please contact a school admin directly with any issues concerning the school in order to ensure the right channels of resolution are properly engaged. Please do not use or rely on WhatsApp to address these concerns, especially as we need to collectively safeguard the privacy of children, staff, admin and parents. 

 

The HCES PTA Community Online Norms

Etiquette. Be kind and be clear. Treat all online forums with care and respect. 

    • Community Inclusivity. WhatsApp is great for building community, but it’s also overwhelming for some. Be mindful that not all parents or caretakers join or regularly monitor the chats, and some may drop off without notifying the group. Use class email lists to plan and send out invitations to in-class events; do not only use WhatsApp.
    • Purposeful Prose. Try to keep your language literal and clear to avoid misinterpretation. Digital communications make it easy to write quick messages that might be taken the wrong way. Tongue-in-cheek humor, hyperbole, and metaphor tend to get lost in transmission in digital messaging. Please be careful about posting political or polarizing comments, as this is meant to be an inclusive community chat. We are all on the go, but please – stop, read, and remember your message is being consumed by a diverse group of real human beings in your community.
    • Respectful Intentions. Read something you might disagree with? Concerned with a remark? We value and foster respect for diversity, and seek to create a community of inclusion. Remember that people in the community have had different life experiences and may have differing perspectives. If you are directly engaged, take a pause and move the conversation to a private channel (how?  click on the message > choose more > reply privately) or ideally in-person! WhatsApp chat groups are not ideal for discussing complex matters, and be mindful of safeguarding the identity and privacy of children, families, staff and admin in potentially sensitive or complex discussions on these forums. 
  • Productive Discourse. Keep it positive. Consider what you share and help create a community you’re proud to be a part of. 

 

Privacy & Safety. We want your chats to be a safe space, but our community is a public place.

  • Do NOT Post Confidential Information nor something you wouldn’t want strangers to see. Recall that grade-level WhatsApp groups may have 100 people on them! Think carefully before you share personal, financial, or medical (including mental health) information about yourself, your children, or other children. 
  • Do NOT Share Photos and Possibly Confidential Information Outside the Thread. All communication in a WhatsApp group should be treated as private and should not be shared outside that group by any member without permission. We ask that you do not forward screenshots of threads outside of the intended recipient group, but be aware that it can happen. WhatsApp is encrypted, but it is not human-proof.  Consider locking your WhatsApp with FaceID or TouchID.
  • Children’s Privacy – Ask About and Respect Boundaries. Children have a right to privacy (read about it here and here). We know parents share photos of school-related events on WhatsApp and many love the photo reels, especially when they miss an event. These photos may be used for private, personal purposes like hanging up a photo of your child and their friends in their bedroom. Photos of other people’s children should NEVER be posted on online or social media without permission from that child AND their caregivers. Be aware that some parents do not want photos of their children even on WhatsApp.  For those groups, consider using WhatsApp’s disappearing photos feature. Take a moment to get to know your community’s personal privacy concerns and comfort levels.

 

WhatsApp Group Description

If you host a WhatsApp group, please edit and add the following description to your Group Description:

 

HCES [ group / class / etc.] Created 20xx. I am an HCES parent. I agree to the Online Forum norms at hcespta.org.

 

How? 

  1. Open WhatsApp 
  2. Tap the group
  3. Tap “Group Info” section (right-hand corner) 
  4. Tap on the “Description” section right below the name of the group
  5. Add the language. Note: there is a 90-character limit!