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Cincinnati Enquirer
Sneaky teen texting
codes: what they mean, when to worry
Jennifer Jolly, Special for USA Today
If your teen has a smartphone, chances are they spend several hours a
day on text and social media. If you ever look at what they’re actually
doing on there, you’ll likely see a lot of innocent “Snapstreaking,”
some funny Buzzfeed videos and a bunch of letters and numbers that look
like some kind of modern-day shorthand.
You probably use some of these yourself:
LOL = laugh(ing) out loud
GR8 = great
IRL = in real life
TYVM = thank you very much
IMHO = in my humble opinion
BRB = be right back
J/K = just kidding
L8R = later
NP = no problem
WYD= what you doing?
While most of these terms are completely innocent, some child safety
experts warn there can be more than meets the eye with texting codes.
Some strange texting lingo might double as code for suicidal thoughts,
bullying, sex and drugs.
“The stakes are high, and today’s parents need new ways to safeguard
their teens from the harmful side effects of online interaction,” says
Brian Bason, CEO of Bark, a safety app parents and teens download that
monitors sites and services teens use for red flag words and the
context they're using them in.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicide is the
second leading cause of deaths for young adults and adults ages 15 to
34. In recent years, the problem of teen suicide has taken on a new
dimension in part due to the proliferation of technology. "We
teach our kids to look both ways when they cross the street. Don't talk
to strangers. We need to do the same thing for children with digital
uses," Bason says.
Bark analyzes some 10-million teen messages per month across 21
different platforms including text, email, Instagram, Snapchat, and
YouTube. Here’s the most recent list of the top “sneaky” terms that
teens use, according to Bark’s data:
53X = sneaky way to type "sex"…
Read the rest of the article at the Cincinnati Enquirer
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