How to send a direct message

Direct messages are private between two adults in the same group.

Start a conversation

Either:

• Open the Chat tab. Under Direct messages, pick someone from Message someone… and tap Go.
• Or open the Families tab and tap Message next to a parent's name.

If you've talked before, the same conversation opens again.

Message several people

Under Direct messages, open Message several people…, tick up to 20 adults, and tap Start a group message. Everyone you picked can read and reply; it's titled with their names. Starting one with exactly the same people again opens the conversation you already have.

Good to know

• Only the people in the conversation can see it. Admins can't read direct messages, unless one of you reports a message: then they see that one message and can remove it.
• Don't want to hear from someone? Block them and neither of you can message the other.
• You can edit or remove your own messages, as in chat rooms.
• Teens can send and receive direct messages only if a parent turns them on (in the teen's student card on My family). Otherwise they chat in their teen Circle rooms.
• If the other person leaves the group, the conversation becomes read-only.
• A class's teacher can start a conversation with all of the class's parents. See How co-op classes work.

Notifications

If the other person has phone notifications on, they get one as soon as you send. If they haven't read it after an hour, they also get an email saying you wrote (without the message itself).