You pride yourself in being a hip parent who knows all of the warning signs. But with ever-changing technology, it's sometimes hard to stay on top of the latest and greatest trends, especially since you're not a teenager anymore. And to say things have changed since then would be an understatement. In fact, teens these days speak their own language via text - and if you're not down with the lingo, you may be missing out on some telltale signs that your teen is in trouble. Just knowing LOL and TTYL isn't going to cut it anymore. You need to get educated.
Here's a crash course in Texting 101: 121 = one to one, fml = f^&* my life, kol= kiss on lips, ipn = I'm posing nude, cyo = see you online, A/S/L = age, sex, location, lmirl = let's meet in real life, pos = parent over shoulder, somy = sick of me yet, smaim = send me an instant message, wtf = what the f&*(, wfm = works for me, wtgp = want to go private?, wibni - wouldn't it be nice if, swak = sealed with a kiss, smem = send me an email, moos = member of opposite sex, moss = member of same six, ilu = I love you, beg = big evil grin, crbt = crying real big tears, dbeyr = don't believe everything you read, e123 = easy as 123, IMing = chatting with someone online, kfy = kiss for you, kir = keep it real, ldr = long distant relationship, mhbfy = my heart bleeds for you, musm =miss you so much, noyb = none of your business. To learn more abbreviations, visit http://www.missingkids.com/adcouncil/pdf/lingo/onlinelingo.pdf for a list of the online lingo. Stay abreast of your child's texts to make sure he isn't involved in any dangerous activity that could put him or her in harm's way. Knowing is half the battle.