Children's Party Etiquette: Should You Invite Your Child's Entire Class?

Are parents obliged to invite their entire class for their child's birthday party? Though most schools would usually recommend that the entire class should be invited, there are parents that are bold enough to limit the guests by inviting children that are close to their child.

Contrary to what most birthday party etiquette that most parents are accustomed to, there are those that oblige to invite their child's entire class for a handful of valid reasons. Though uninvited kids may feel left out, one mother from She Knows website cited that she finds inviting her child's entire class impractical.

Lisa Fogarty noted that she limited the selection of her child's birthday invite children that are close to her preschooler. While some mothers reacted negatively, Lisa pointed out that it is important to teach kids it's perfectly fine not to get an invite. There's a fine line that comes to this however, as she tends to highlight that invites should only be given to her child's friends without the intention of making other children feel bad.

"You aren't always going to get an invitation to everything, and that's okay, the author explained. "Your genuine friends will be there to celebrate your milestones, but feeling FOMO because you won't be partying with that girl with the brown hair who sits in the third row in your algebra class?"

Today's Parents then give out the negative effects of making children feel like they missed out on something. According to a psychologist, Alex Russell, however, he noted the negative implications of making children feel left out. Russell highlighted the effect of being left out on the child's emotional health, as it can possibly make them feel inferior.

"It's good to think about children's emotional worlds," Russell noted. "But the idea that the child can't handle not being invited to a party is actually really disrespectful. And worse, when all the adults act as if the kids can't handle it, we lower the bar on what we expect of them. This is what the child comes to believe about himself."

Should you invite your child's entire class during his birthday party? Do let us know through the comment section below.