DYK? Do You Know What your Kids are Saying Online?

By , February 2007

Do you know what your kids are saying online? You may be shocked. One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to learn the lingo of online chatting. Teens can be expected to be chatting with 3-10 people at the same time. For this reason, they have developed acronyms for commonly used phrases in order to save time and to hide inappropriate behavior from parents. Your teens could be engaging in risky, not to mention risque, behavior, right under your nose. The following is a list of commonly used and dangerous acronyms that you should watch for, courtesy of teenchatdecoder.com.

Acronyms to Look for:

  1. AITR = Adult In the Room
  2. P911 = Parent Emergency
  3. PAW = Parents Are Watching
  4. PIR = Parent in Room
  5. POS = Parent Over Shoulder
  6. PLOS = Parents Looking Over shoulder
  7. PRW = Parents Are Watching
  8. MOS = Mom Over Shoulder
  9. MIRL = Meet In Real Life
  10. S2R = Send To Receive (pictures)
  11. LMIRL = (Lets) Meet In Real Life
  12. CD9 = Code 9 – (means parents are around)
  13. E or X = Ecstasy (the drug)
  14. ASL = Age Sex Location (Race / Picture)
  15. TDTM = Talk Dirty To Me
  16. GNOC = Get Naked on Cam (web cam)
  17. NIFOC = Naked in Front of Computer

General Chat Terms Commonly Used:

  1. BF / GF = Boyfriend / Girlfriend
  2. BRB = Be Right Back
  3. WB = Welcome Back
  4. GTG = Got to Go
  5. IDK = I Don’t Know
  6. LOL = Laugh Out Loud
  7. MorF = Male or Female
  8. Noob/ Newbie = Somebody who doesn’t know much about something
  9. NMU = Not much, you?
  10. Warez = Pirated Software
  11. W/E = Whatever
  12. WTF = What the F*#$

These acronyms are just the most common, and most serious ones you need to look out for. For a full list of common acronyms visit www.missingkids.com/adcouncil/lingo.html. For more help, or if you see one you don’t know, visit www.teenchatdecoder.com where an acronym dictionary is available. You can also enter an acronym and the site will translate it for you. Remember, the best defense against online predators is to be educated. The more you know, the more you can protect your children, and the safer they will be.

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