Secret Texts Your Teen Uses Are No LOL Matter

A release from Stoneham Safety Officer Joseph Ponzo:

If your teen has a smartphone, chances are they use the texting feature regularly to communicate with friends and family. Although many of the texts they send may be totally innocent, there is a “secret code” among teenagers that is used regularly and as a parent, understanding these codes and abbreviated language may help keep them out of trouble. Some of these codes might double as code for suicidal thoughts, bullying, drugs and sex. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 15 percent of adolescents have sent sexts, (sexual related text messages/pictures), 27 percent had received them and 12 percent had forwarded a sext without consent. I have decided to research some of this lingo, to make parents aware of what your teen may be up to.

Slay - a term used for slaying or killing

Ship - used for a romantic relation”ship”

143 - I love you

Bf/Gf - boyfriend/girlfriend

F2F or FTF - face to face

FWB - friends with benefits

HAK - hugs and kisses

ILY/ILU - I love you

LOL - laugh out loud

PAW - parents are watching

SWAK - sealed with a kiss

WTPA - where the party at

53X -SEX

GNOC - get naked on camera

WTTP - want to trade pictures

BAE - Babe or Baby.

These are just a few of the texts I found that may or may not alarm parents depending on how they are used in the conversation. Parents should try and monitor their child’s phone whenever feasible. Some states such as Florida, make sexting illegal. Although the first offense is a non-criminal violation, a subsequent offense could result in felony charges. Teens could go to prison and be forced to register as a sex offender in that state. I can tell you in Massachusetts, text messages with sexually explicit material involving a child under the age of 18, can be prosecuted under child pornography laws, even if the person who sent it is a minor. This also is a felony and may result in registering as a sex offender if convicted.

I always like to try and find a way for parents to control or monitor these problems with the evolution of technology and I found an app called “Bark”, a safety app parents and teens download that monitors sites and services teens use for red flag words and the context they’re being used. I know in my household, my wife and I pay for the cell phones, so if they don’t give us access to their cell phones or don’t download these safety applications, we can simply take the phone away or shut the service. This may help parents who have children that do not want to hand over their phones at any time.

With these few tips in mind and knowledge of some of the teens “lingo”, we can all help keep our kids safe and out of trouble.

Remember Safety First!