Drug Prevention: Keeping up with your teen’s texting
When it comes to teens and drug abuse, awareness and prevention are key. Many teens think they are too old for supervision, or they know they can outsmart their parents even when their parents are trying to keep tabs on what they are up to. There are many ways to be involved and aware of what your teen is up to in their personal lives. Monitoring your teen’s texting can be important in drug prevention and in discussing important issues they are facing.
Many parents have their teens “check in” their phones at night. This usually means that the teens give their phones to their parents. This is a great prevention tool as it allows parents to review the activity on the teen’s phone since the last check in. If teens argue with this idea, they could be reminded that the parent’s are the ones paying for the phone. It’s also a good idea for teens to take a break from the technology they are bombarded with at every turn, let alone turning the screen off and getting some good rest.
Interestingly, when parents do require their teens to check phones in or parents take the teen’s phone and view the content on it, many are confused when it comes to texting slang. A new article published by Kelly Wallace, CNN discusses how many parents are completely clueless when it comes to Internet slang, acronyms, and the shorthand communication that goes on between teens. For instance, even though many parents believe their teen’s texting is innocent enough, the article states that, ”the issue, especially for parents, is understanding the slang that could signal some dangerous teen behavior, such as “GNOC,’” which means “get naked on camera.” And it certainly helps for a parent to know that “PIR” means parent in room, which could mean the teen wants to have a conversation about things that his or her mom and dad might not approve of.”
The CNN report says that most teens are becoming more and more aware that their parents are monitoring their texting and online use. In an effort to keep their interactions hidden, they have devised many sneaky acronyms to continue to communicate in ways that their parents are oblivious to but would not approve of if they knew. In relation to drug prevention, there are a few acronyms that indicate drug use that are widely know around teens including: CID (acid), Broken (hungover from alcohol), 420 (marijuana), DOC (drug of choice). If parents are aware of these acronyms and see them show up in their teen’s interaction, they may be able to prevent drug use or any further drug use by discussing the acronyms with their teens.
An extremely helpful section of the article contains a list created by Katie Greer (a national Internet safety expert who has provided Internet and technology safety training to schools, law enforcement agencies and community organizations throughout the country for more than seven years). It contains some of the acronyms well known to teens but hardly known to most parents. Greer says, “After you read this list, you’ll likely start looking at your teen’s texts in a whole new way.”
- IWSN – I want sex now
- GNOC – Get naked on camera
- NIFOC – Naked in front of computer
- PIR – Parent in room
- CU46 – See you for sex
- 53X – Sex
- 9 – Parent watching
- 99 – Parent gone
- 1174’ – Party meeting place
- THOT – That hoe over there
- CID – Acid (the drug)
- Broken – Hungover from alcohol
- 420 – Marijuana
- POS – Parent over shoulder
- SUGARPIC – Suggestive or erotic photo
- KOTL – Kiss on the lips
- (L)MIRL – Let’s meet in real life
- PRON – Porn
- TDTM – Talk dirty to me
- 8 – Oral sex
- CD9 – Parents around/Code 9
- IPN – I’m posting naked
- LH6 – Let’s have sex
- WTTP – Want to trade pictures?
- DOC – Drug of choice
- TWD – Texting while driving
- GYPO – Get your pants off
- KPC- Keeping parents clueless