Social media, it's hard to find a tween or teen who doesn't use it. But did you know there's a secret code they use to communicate? A code that's main objective is to "KPC" – Keep Parents Clueless. Five On Your Side's Ann Allred is helping parents crack the secret code.
Texting, Twitter, Snapchat, it's the way tweens and teens stay connected.
St. Charles County School Resource officer Ron Neupert has spent nearly two decades working with students.
"There's absolutely no way getting around it," says Officer Neupert. "You have to deal with this one way, shape, or another."
And in the a high tech world where smartphones take the place of face to face conversations, parents know it's hard to keep track of kids on social media. Officer Neupert says it's what parents don't know that can be an even bigger problem.
"It started with things as simple as "LOL", "Laugh Out Loud", or "IDK", "I Don't Know", simply things like that, but now it has progressed," says Officer Neupert.
Acronyms like, "PIR", "Parents in Room" and "LMIRL", "Let's Meet in Real Life." They're secret codes your kids don't want you to know about. So "Five on Your Side" gathered a group of parents and put them to the test.
In our group, only one parent got three answers right, that's 3 codes out of 40. Guss and Karin Markwell's 12-year-old daughter got her smartphone a few months ago.
"I didn't know any of them," says Guss Markwell. He says he checks his daughter's messages every couple of days.
"Does she know?" "Sometimes," says Markwell, "She does now."
"I guess we just have to educate ourselves," says Karin Markwell. "It's just not fast enough, my daughter knows more about technology now than us, even my 7-year-old, that's scary."
Eric Nelson's the mom of a 16-year-old.
"Shocking, it was shocking," says Nelson. "I came in thinking I would know more, on some of the acronyms being used, the codes, but I faild the test miserably."
Nelson admits her lack of knowledge can be nerve wracking.
"Because you don't know, you might grab their phone checking it thinking one thing and they could have this whole other life, so to speak, going on and you would be clueless," says Nelson.
Officer Neupert advises parents to not only educate themselves and talk to their children.
"If you see some strange unusual acronyms on your child's phone, which you should be looking at anyhow, it's really time to sit down and have a conversation with your child," says Neupert.
He says to tween and teens, his rule is simple.
"Don't do anything on there that your grandparents wouldn't want to see," says Officer Neupert. "Then you'll be safe, you'll know exactly what to put on there."
THE SECRET CODES OF TEENS: MORE THAN 100 COMMON TEXT AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACRONYMS
Here are some of the most common social media acronyms teens are using to communicate with one another:
1. 143 - I love you
2. 2DAY - Today
3. 4EAE - For ever and ever
4. ADN - Any day now
5. AFAIK - As far as I know
6. AFK - Away from keyboard
7. ASL- Age/sex/location
8. ATM - At the moment
9. BFN - Bye for now
10. BOL - Be on later
11. BRB - Be right back
12. BTW - By the way
13. CTN- Can't talk now
14. DWBH - Don't worry, be happy
15. F2F or FTF - Face to face
16. FWB - Friends with benefits
17. FYEO - For your eyes only
18. GAL – Get a life
19. GB - Goodbye
20. GLHF - Good luck, have fun
21. GTG- Got to go
22. GYPO- Get your pants off
23. HAK - Hugs and kisses
24. HAND - Have a nice day
25. HTH - Hope this helps / Happy to help
26. HW- Homework
27. IDK - I don't know
28. IIRC - If I remember correctly
29. IKR - I know, right?
30. ILY / ILU - I love you
31. IM- Instant message
32. IMHO - In my honest opinion / In my humble opinion
33. IMO - In my opinion
34. IRL - In real life
35. IWSN - I want sex now
36. IU2U - It's up to you
37. IYKWIM - If you know what I mean
38. J/K - Just kidding
39. J4F - Just for fun
40. JIC - Just in case
41. JSYK - Just so you know
42. KFY - Kiss for you
43. KPC- Keeping parents clueless
44. L8- Late
45. LMBO - Laughing my butt off
46. LMIRL – Let's meet in real life
47. LMK - Let me know
48. LOL - Laugh out loud
49. LSR- Loser
50. MIRL - Meet in real life
51. MOS- Mom over shoulder
52. NAGI - Not a good idea
53. NIFOC- Nude in front of computer
54. NM - Never mind
55. NMU - Not much, you?
56. NP - No problem
57. NTS - Note to self
58. OIC- Oh I see
59. OMG - Oh my God
60. ORLY - Oh, really?
61. OT- Off topic
62. OTP- On the phone
63. P911- Parent alert
64. PAW - Parents are watching
65. PCM- Please call me
66. PIR - Parent in room
67. PLS or PLZ - Please
68. PPL - People
69. POS - Parents over shoulder
70. PTB - Please text back
71. QQ - Crying. This abbreviation produces an emoticon in text. It's often used sarcastically.
72. RAK - Random act of kindness
73. RL - Real life
74. ROFL - Rolling on the floor laughing
75. RT - Retweet
76. RUOK - Are you okay?
77. SMH - Shaking my head
78. SOS - Someone over shoulder
79. SRSLY - Seriously
80. SSDD - Same stuff, different day
81. SWAK - Sealed with a kiss
82. SWYP - So, what's your problem?
83. SYS- See you soon
84. TBC- To be continued
85. TDTM-Talk dirty to me
86. TIME - Tears in my eyes
87. WYCM- Will you call me?
88. TMI - Too much information
89. TMRW - Tomorrow
90. TTYL - Talk to you later
91. TY or TU - Thank you
92. VSF - Very sad face
93. WB - Welcome back
94. WTH - What the heck?
95. WTPA - Where the party at?
96. WYCM - Will you call me?
97. YGM - You've got mail
98. YOLO- You only live once
99. YW - You're welcome
100. ZOMG- Oh my God (sarcas
tic)
101. 182 - I hate you
102. 420 - Marijuana
103. ADR - Address
104. CD9 - Code 9 - it means parents are around
105. ILU - I Love You
106. KOTL - Kiss On The Lips
107. LMIRL - Let's Meet In Real Life
108. NIFOC - Nude In Front Of The Computer
109. P999 - Parent Alert
110. PAL - Parents Are Listening -or- Peace And Love
111. RU/18 - Are You Over 18?
112. WYRN - What's Your Real Name?
