Parents are probably used to their children - especially teenagers - being glued to their cellphones sending text messages back and forth, but those text messages could contain adult-themedcodes.
For adults, text message abbreviation can look like a foreign language, 10TV's Tanisha Mallettreported.
Janie Doss said her daughters, Kortney and Katie, send text messages to their friends all daylong.
"Constantly, we tell them to put it away at dinner and lunch and breakfast and it doesn't seemto ever stop," Janie Doss said.
Doss said she tries to keep a close eye on the messages coming in and out.
"Probably more often they know, I check," she said.
But would Doss know what to look for? Would she be able to spot a nasty message? Aftergetting permission, 10TV News sent Kortney, 15, a test with the abbreviation, "KPC."
Neither Doss nor her daughter knew that the code stands for "keeping parents clueless." Theyalso didn't know that "420" is code for "Let's get high," "TDTM" is short for "talk dirty to me,"or "LH6," which stands for "Let's have sex."
Other codes that could cause concern include "LMIRL," short for "let's meet in real life," and"NIFOC," abbreviation for "naked in front of computer."
Craig Travis, president elect of the Ohio Psychological Association, said parents should beprepared to talk with their children about text messaging.
"There is research that shows that when people have a sense of anonymity their behavior becomesa lot more risky," Travis said. "They are more assertive with what they do because they don't thinkthey will have any consequences to it."
Doss said she has had that conversation with her daughters, and will continue to do so.
"Ignoring it and putting the blinders on is probably the worst thing that you can do," shesaid.
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Additional Information:
TextMessaging Abbreviations (Note: Some material may be considered offensive)
