Pooja Birwatkar A few years back There was a time when parents would wait for their children to return from school. All that happened in school, the highlights, the challenges of the day, activities that happened, home work that was given, everything was discussed. School bags were checked and school calendars were read regularly. The scenario now Mother: So what happened in school today? Child: I am tired … See in WhatsApp Mother: Thank God, WhatsApp is there or I would never know anything. Much before the child reaches home, parents are already aware of what happened in school, the kind of homework given, etc., courtesy WhatsApp and other social networking platforms. Life in school is shred and dissected every day. While it is good to be involved with the children, too much involvement spells danger. This has led to a kind of communication breakdown between parents and children. Children are aware that the parent is already in the know and any further questions from them are simply shrugged off by saying, “Find out from WhatsApp.” This would have been acceptable if parents discussed only school work. But sample this: Parent1: My child was absent today. Can someone share the home work and what was done in school? Some parent puts pictures of the work done. Parent 1: Thanks. Oh, wow! Your child’s handwriting is so good. My child writes so shabbily. You are such a lucky parent. The parent even goes to the extent of taking pains to click pictures of the child’s shabby work and put them on the WhatsApp group for another 30-40 parents to see. Parent: My daughter won the first prize in dance competition. This is followed by a spate of likes and congratulation and comments such as Your daughter is so good. Wish my child was like her My son is so lazy My son never copies the class work She doesn’t know what was done. Her mind is always elsewhere Unknowingly, parents are creating mental images of their children in other parents’ minds. This is intruding upon the child’s privacy. No parent would like their flaws being discussed on these groups by the children, then why don’t parents realize that they are somewhere making the lives of their kids too public? Even without meeting these kids, the WhatsApp parents group has already labelled the kids in class as the lazy one, the brilliant one, the abuser, the deviant one, the good mannered child and so on. Parent1: Have