Codes and acronyms kids use online every parent needs to know

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DENVER — In a world ruled by smartphones and tablets, our kids often use them more than we do. But, do you know the language of the social media world?

Did you even know there are acronyms and codes that your kids may be using online, codes that are often designed to hide stuff from you?

For any busy family, keeping up with the kids and work and life can be a lot. But, a new challenge has emerged, staying one step ahead of our kids when it comes to social media and technology.

Parents Jonathan and Amy know all too well. They have a 17-year-old, a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old, and said, “We try to be very proactive in communicating with our kids about the dangers and on social media.”

But, here’s the thing that so many parents don’t know: There’s a code. Sure, we all know what LOL means or TTYL and WTF. But, what about PIR? GNOC? Or simply the number 9? That’s right it’s a code. Parents, we gotta’ crack this thing. Keep reading, then see the acronyms below every parent needs to know.

Cracking the code

Acronyms are common among tweens and teens used online to keep parents in the dark. We decided to put parents to the test. We brought in seven parents; combined they have 10 teenagers and we complied a short list of nine of the most common acronyms.

Out of the all the acronyms, one parent got one of the answers. That’s it! When we started cracking the codes they were shocked!

For example, GNOC means get naked on camera. “Gasp!!, (are you surprised ?) I think we think our kids are more innocent than this” explained one parent.

On to the next word, PIR which is code for “parents in room” and the number 9, that means parent watching, while the number 99 means parent gone.

One parent said, “I know that they know how to erase texts, but we’ve asked them not to erase texts. It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of work as a parent to monitor all of this because if they’re erasing texts.”

Another parent said that she didn’t even know her kids were chatting inside their video games. She stopped it as soon as she found out. She went on to say, “They think they’re playing with another kid. You don’t know – I cut that off. They weren’t really happy with me but I didn’t think it was safe.”

Other codes like LMIRL meaning “lets meet in real life” or WTTP means “want to trade pictures” or KPC … “keeping parents clueless.”

All of our parents were clueless. “A lot of the stuff we see is the LOL. If we’re going to get crazy it’s ‘laugh my butt off,’ to me I’m completely shocked.”

Shocked, but now armed with some information that can help them and help you talk with your kids about a world many of us don’t understand as well as we think we do.

“This is just a new generation of parenting. You still have to be involved in your kids’ life. You still have to push their boundaries of privacy. You still have to be the boss in their house. You’re not their friend.”