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6 parents you will meet in the school WhatsApp group.

If you have a child starting school in 2025, you've no doubt got a number of apprehensive questions in mind.

Will they make friends? Do they have to know how to tie their shoes? Will you get lunchbox-shamed if you don't have an $89 stainless steel bento box filled with seaweed and organic nut-free homemade slice?

Watch: Find out what type of school parent you are. Post continues after video.


Video via Mamamia.

All valid concerns, but allow me to add one more to your plate: the dreaded class WhatsApp group.

In schools across the nation, parents will be tasked with setting up some kind of Meta-dependent online group where the parents of other kids in your child's class can ask questions varying from what they need to bring for the swimming carnival to whether or not anyone took Jimmy's hat/waterbottle/lunchbox home accidentally.

These days, the group more often than not takes the form of a WhatsApp chat or Facebook group, and while the content may vary, there are bound to be some consistencies across age, demographic and school. 

Here are the six parents you are sure to encounter in every class WhatsApp group:

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The types of parents in a school WhatsApp group chat.

The complainer-campaigner.

This parent is outraged by just about everything, from the fact that there's no shade for parents watching the athletics carnival, to the fact that there was another cake stall planned when they JUST baked brownies last month as well.

The Complainer-Campaigner is sometimes useful when harnessed in the right way (go forth, mighty warrior, petition the council to stop people parking along the median strip and stopping the flow into the drop-off zone) but more often than not, it represents a lot of extra text you have to read through and make a decision on.

Alternative title: The Class Karen.

The over-organiser.

Again, the Over-Organiser has their place in the parent group hierarchy, as they're crucial for removing the mental load from things like end-of-year teacher gifts, but more often than not, need a Valium and a lie-down to manage their efficient Type-A tendencies.

The Over-Organiser also LOVES a third party app to aid in the corralling of parents.

"I've set up a Group Together profile where we can all just put some money in for Ms Scholastica's end-of-year gift, and I thought we could each sign up to this anonymous randomised Kris Kringle app to ensure every child gets a gift…"

The virtue-signaller.

This parent remains fairly silent on practical issues pertaining to the class chat, but will often be found dropping tangentially parenting-related links into the group to let everyone know their politics.

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Whether it's campaigning for healthier options at the school canteen, sharing an article about the perils of raising your voice with your child or tone-policing the other parents in the chat, this parent's entire personality revolves around how many people know their opinions.

The lurker.

This parent will leave you on read more often than a f**kboy on a dating app.

Reluctant to contribute anything but always keeping abreast of developments, the Lurker likes to skim-read for relevant details - and screengrab any drama for their own group chat.

The drama-starter.

From local gossip to global politics, the Drama-Starter holds problematic beliefs in nearly everything, thrives on conflict and genuinely sits somewhere on the political right of Atila the Hun.

This parent hates punctuation but loves to stir the pot, and favours phrases like 'political correctness gone mad' in general parlance, whether they're talking about a Mother's Day stall or the fact that kids get participation ribbons in the swimming carnival.

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Feature image: Getty + Mamamia.

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