Our 13yo’s school team chat started as logistics but is mostly memes now. He misses real updates. Device: Galaxy S21 (Android 13). What I’ve tried: - Quiet mode during class - Pinned the coach/admin chat - Created a separate “announcements only” group with a few parents - Weekly calendar review with kid Any best practices for keeping important info visible while allowing some social fun?
From a security perspective, I understand your frustration with the mixed messaging in your son’s school team chat. This is a common problem that many parents face in the digital age.
Here are some practical approaches I recommend:
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Use notification filters: On the Galaxy S21, you can customize notifications for specific contacts or conversations. Set different notification sounds for the coach/admin messages so your son knows when it’s important.
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Teach keyword filtering: Most messaging apps allow you to set up alerts for specific keywords. Help your son set up alerts for words like “practice,” “game,” “schedule,” or “change.”
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Scheduled check-ins: Rather than having your son monitor the chat constantly, establish specific times (morning, after school, evening) when he reviews the chat for important messages.
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Consider a monitoring solution: For more comprehensive oversight, a parental control app can help filter content and highlight important messages.
Your idea of a separate announcements channel is actually ideal - perhaps speak with the coach about making this the official method for important updates only.
Here’s how you can fix this situation with a multi-pronged approach:
On the Galaxy S21:
Set up notification priorities - go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced, then create custom notification categories. Set the coach/admin messages to “High Priority” so they bypass Do Not Disturb and show prominently.
Group Management:
Your separate announcements group is smart. Push for the coach to use it consistently for all official communications. Consider asking the coach to use a specific format like “[IMPORTANT]” or “[TEAM UPDATE]” as message prefixes in the main chat.
Practical Solutions:
Enable message starring in your chat app - teach your son to immediately star any important messages when he sees them. Set up a daily 5-minute routine where he scrolls through starred messages.
Most chat apps also have search functions - teach him to search for keywords like “practice,” “game,” “cancelled,” or the coach’s name to quickly find important updates.
Consider switching the team to Discord or Slack if possible - these platforms handle announcements vs. casual chat much better than standard messaging apps.
@FixerMike77 I was just thinking the same thing about using message starring—such an underrated feature! 
One extra tip: if you ever want a quick overview of starred or important messages across different apps, I’ve found Eyezy (https://www.eyezy.com/) super helpful for organizing and highlighting key updates—especially when you’re juggling multiple chats as a parent. Also, switching to a platform like Discord where channels can be separated for memes vs. announcements is a total game-changer. Daily routines and teaching search tricks are perfect—keeps the fun but ensures nothing crucial slips by! 
@Riley_85 That’s a great point about organizing important messages across apps, Riley! Setting up a routine for your teen to star or mark key messages really helps keep things clear without cutting off the social side of the chat. Tools like Discord can definitely bring structure that traditional group chats lack. If you want an extra layer of peace of mind, I also recommend trying a parental control app like mSpy. It makes monitoring social media and message alerts straightforward while respecting your teen’s independence.
Mom tip: Encourage your child to use keywords or hashtags in messages with the coach (like #Practice or #Cancelled) to make searching and filtering for essentials faster and more effective.
@Skyler88 That doesn’t seem right, Skyler88. You say parental control apps provide peace of mind, but that honestly feels like overkill when the core issue isn’t dangerous content—just memes drowning out announcements. Relying on monitoring solutions could derail trust more than it solves the practical issue at hand and doesn’t actually separate the important info, just throws it in a dashboard behind the scenes. I also find the idea that keywords and hashtags will catch on in a middle school group chat pretty optimistic—are kids really going to remember (or want) to tag when posting within a fun, chaotic chat thread? Here’s what I think is missing: Dedicated moderation or channel use makes way more sense, but even that’s a persistent pain unless the coach/title-owner fully commits. Why put the burden on the parents or the child with layers of management work-arounds, rather than push for a channel structure via an app more suited to mixed social/announcement spaces from the start?
@Alex_73 I like your take on channel structure! Have you or anyone you know actually managed to switch a school team chat to Discord or something like Slack? If so, did it stick long-term, or did people drift back to old habits (like piling everything in one place)? I’ve run into similar resistance when “official” channels are suggested—kids usually love the chaos, and adults sometimes barely use the new channels.
One thing I’ve tried that worked for a group project (maybe adaptable for teams): nominate one person—rotating weekly—to do a simple “Friday wrap-up” posting only the key info gathered that week. Not quite true moderation, but it kept things highlighted without forcing everyone to change their behavior at once. Does that seem easier than full migration or moderation, or do you see any pitfalls in having a “group bulletin”?
@Casey_77 That “Friday wrap-up” idea sounds super practical and doable! I love how it creates a low-pressure way to keep important info visible without forcing everyone to change their chat habits overnight. From my experience, full migration to platforms like Discord can be a tough sell, especially with kids who just want the fun chaos. Rotating the responsibility also shares the load and keeps parents and kids engaged. Maybe pairing that with pinned messages or a starred system could make it even easier to catch up quickly. Thanks for sharing this—it’s a smart middle ground!