With texting, email, social media and smartphones, teens have endless options for communicating. As parents, it is our responsibility to monitor for safety. But it’s not always easy to stay in the loop when we can’t decipher what our kids are saying with slang and acronyms.
Teens frequently use internet slang and acronyms in their digital conversations. While mostly the language is harmless and easy to decode (such as LOL aka laugh out loud), other times the language is used as an intentional way to hide information from parents and adults.
CNN reports that a majority of teens believe that their parents are watching or monitoring their social media lives. Knowing that their parents may be watching, kids have started using acronyms and slang to hide the meaning of their messages.
Not surprisingly, the messages that kids are trying to hide are messages that would be troubling for parents to read. Many of the acronyms refer to drinking and drugs, and the code language is frequently used to hide messages related to sexting.
Many parents think sexting sounds like something their child wouldn’t do. But studies have found that sexting is much more common than many parents want to admit. Studies from The Pew Internet & American Life Project and the Cox Communications Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey conclude that 39% of teens have sent sexually suggestive messages via text, email or instant messaging.
Parents may believe that their kids aren’t sexting, but it could be that parents just don’t know how to read the language they use to discuss it. In order to crack the code on teenage digital slang, parents need to be familiar with the following acronyms.
Acronyms You Need to Know
- IWSN – I want sex now
- GNOC – Get naked on camera
- NIFOC – Naked in front of computer
- CU46 – See you for sex
- 53X – Sex
- 1174 – Party meeting place
- CID – Acid (the drug)
- Broken – Hungover from alcohol
- 420 – Marijuana
- SUGARPIC – Suggestive or erotic photo
- KOTL – Kiss on the lips
- (L)MIRL – Let’s meet in real life
- PRON – Porn
- TDTM – Talk dirty to me
- 8 – Oral sex
- IPN – I’m posting naked
- LH6 – Let’s have sex
- WTTP – Want to trade pictures?
- DOC – Drug of choice
- GYPO – Get your pants off
Related: Parents Can’t Afford to Ignore Their Kids’ Social Media
Knowing the acronyms is only half the battle when trying to protect your kids. Parents need to connect with their children in their digital worlds by monitoring their social media profiles.
The MamaBear Family Safety App makes it easy for parents to stay in the know. The app allows parents to sync with their kids’ accounts, receive updates when their child makes a new social connection, upload photos and monitor messages with a restricted words list. Add these acronyms to your word list to monitor in MamaBear and take an extra precaution to protect your children. The MamaBear Family Safety App is free and available for both iPhones and Androids.