Parent Discussion website

[ItsAllGood]

Hi all, a mom started a yahou by invitation only website. It was not started by the school. She invited all the teachers and parents to join it. It looks like her intentions are good. For parents to discuss things etc.
Have any of you heard of this? Would you join it? Is it safe?

[daytripper75]

It is probably just like anything else on the Internet, perfectly safe unless general safety guidelines are not followed. I would join in a heartbeat! It is always good to have a connection with other parents at your child's school. If it doesn't turn out to be helpful or positive, you can always leave.

I want to do this for my child's school if there isn't anything similar already in place.

[wrzos]

I did the same thing for our class last year - at the request of the majority of the parents. Our school is a bit slow to embrace technology, and we (the parents) were looking for easier ways to connect with each other, chat about the school, share info pertaining to the school, and for some parents, send out birthday party invitations via electronic format.

Anyhoo... I called all the parents in our classroom, they offered up their email address if they wanted to participate (all but 1 did) and I then created a yahoo group, and sent them all invites. Really the invite thing is strictly to make it easier for them to join - AND - keep it a private group where others not in the class can't join. We got maybe 60-75% participation on the yahoo group. Most of the chatter was centered around the schools opera (volunteers needed, etc.), end of year gifts, new baby gifts (teacher was expecting last year) and summer planning. Overall not a very active group, but still has served its purpose.

As far as your group - it sounds like it was started for similar reasons. Often I've found the parents want ta place to think aloud with other parents about various policies, upcoming events, etc. That is usually the reason to exclude school personnel. As for safety, be aware that anything in writing (email or otherwise) can be located no matter how private you think it may be. I'm pretty candid in person, so while I may say something sooner in email on a private list than I would in person, I'm not fussed if what I did at one point say eventually comes to light, kwim? However, if you are an off the cuff ranter, you may want to temper your messages until you get a comfort level established.

[BCFD]

I was actually thinking about doing this for our school, too. They finally got a nice website up (like Heather, ours is a little slow in this arena) and the woman who contributed all the content asked me for my suggestions. Having an online message board was a recommendation, but I think that takes a little bit of know-how, so I was just going to create a Yahoo invite group.

I think it's a great idea and would definitely join. I see a lot of parents pretty frequently between all the birthday parties, school functions, and drop off's, but it would be nice to really have a message board.

[mamalemon]

It is a great idea! The school we attend has one and it has been so popular that our website has been neglected (DH is working on it, though!). We use Google Groups, not Yahoo, but it works very similarly.

If you start one, my suggestion is to ask people include their name and their child's name in their handle if they are creating one or to add it in to profile info for an already created user name. Making folders or areas for each classroom plus one for "all school" is also helpful in keeping all of the messages organized.

[Koloe]

I would join one if there is one for my DD's school.

[ItsAllGood]

Thanks for all the input! I did go ahead and join it :>).
It looks to be a good vehicle and like you all said keep it positive and resourceful is the key.