Teen Text Talk

When it comes to teens it can be more difficult and even more important to be a parent in the know.

Let’s start with 50 Acronyms Parents Should Know: 

(Courtesy of Enough is Enough and NetLingo)

1. 8 - Oral sex
2. 1337 - Elite -or- leet -or- L337
3. 143 - I love you
4. 182 - I hate you
5. 1174 - Nude club
6. 420 - Marijuana
7. 459 - I love you
8. ADR - Address
9. AEAP - As Early As Possible
10. ALAP - As Late As Possible
11. ASL - Age/Sex/Location
12. CD9 - Code 9 – it means parents are around
13. C-P - Sleepy
14. F2F - Face-to-Face
15. GNOC - Get Naked On Cam
16. GYPO - Get Your Pants Off
17. HAK - Hugs And Kisses
18. ILU - I Love You
19. IWSN - I Want Sex Now
20. J/O - Jerking Off
21. KOTL - Kiss On The Lips
22. KFY -or- K4Y - Kiss For You
23. KPC - Keeping Parents Clueless
24. LMIRL - Let’s Meet In Real Life
25. MOOS - Member Of The Opposite Sex
26. MOSS - Member(s) Of The Same Sex
27. MorF - Male or Female
28. MOS - Mom Over Shoulder
29. MPFB - My Personal F*** Buddy
30. NALOPKT - Not A Lot Of People Know That
31. NIFOC - Nude In Front Of The computer
32. NMU - Not Much, You?
33. P911 - Parent Alert
34. PAL - Parents Are Listening
35. PAW - Parents Are Watching
36. PIR - Parent In Room
37. POS - Parent Over Shoulder -or- Piece Of Sh**
38. pron - porn
39. Q2C - Quick To Cum
40. RU/18 - Are You Over 18?
41. RUMORF - Are You Male OR Female?
42. RUH - Are You Horny?
43. S2R - Send To Receive
44. SorG - Straight or Gay
45. TDTM - Talk Dirty To Me
46. WTF - What The F***
47. WUF - Where You From
48. WYCM - Will You Call Me?
49. WYRN - What’s Your Real Name?
50. zerg - To gang up on someone

Be an educated parent – you will have safer teens!

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Phone vs Text vs Email

What type of person are you?


Source: Accredited Online Colleges

Phone:
Yes:”The only way to do business aside from in person.”
Sort-of:”It is easier to understand nuances, humor, and intonation.”
No:”Ugh, it’s so stressful having to actually talk to someone. A phone call is an invasion of privacy.”
Text:
Yes:”Easiest and most convenient by far.”
Sort-of:”That’s a lot of typing on a small keyboard.”
No: “What’s texting? So unprofessional.”

E-mail:
Yes:”Very clear, easy, and always have a record of the convo.”
Sort-of: “Well you can respond when it’s convenient.”
No: “What’s email? It’s hard to tell what people really mean.”

It probably depends on your generation

The Young Ones
43% of 18-24 y.o.’s think texting is just as meaningful as a face to face conversation.
42% of teenagers say texting is the main reason they own a phone.

Millennials prefer emails and texts to other forms of communication.

29% of Millennials think in person meetings are effective vs. 45% of Boomers
[% of generations that use cell to text]
Millennial: 88%
Gen X: 77%
Boomer: 51%
Silent: 9%
Median # of texts in the last 24 hours of
Millennial: 20
Gen X: 12
Boomer: 5
Silent:0

And at the extreme: Teenagers: 50
It’s part of an ‘always connected’ youth culture.

[% of generations that sleep with their phone]
Millennial:83%
Gen X: 68%

Facebook and Kids: What Habits Are They Picking Up?

The Facebook generation – that is the trend of our kids and teens today, but what new habits (good and bad) are they learning from social networking?  Since Facebook is the largest and most used social networking site, let’s see what the top seven bad habits kids are learning from Facebook.

You had to have seen this one coming: kids are picking up bad habits from their extensive use of social media giant Facebook. This can’t come as too big of a surprise though, because it stands to reason that something so popular and fun would be bound to have some ill effects. Not that we’re condemning Facebook, mind you, but there are a few potential pitfalls to watch out for regarding your child’s usage.

The following are seven bad habits that kids pick up from Facebook:

1. TMI – To be honest, many of us are already guilty of grossly over-sharing our personal lives on Facebook. When you have a place to update your status 24/7, though, it shouldn’t come as any real surprise that eventually one’s entire personal life is right there for anyone and everyone to read on their profile.
2. Inappropriate Friending – It tends to be an automatic reaction for some to “friend” someone after they’ve added you, accompanied by the friend confirmation request, whether this person is someone you know well or not. While they may not like the idea of saying ‘no’, safety should have a higher priority than popularity.
3. Posting Inappropriate Photos – Inappropriate photographs always seem to find their way onto people’s Facebook pages. For that matter, taking such photos in the first place is ill-advised, to say the least. Coupled with the prospect of being friended by stalkers and strangers, not to mention being available for any potential employers or school officials, this makes for a very dangerous mix.
4. Poor Time Management – It’s very easy to lose track of one’s time while socializing on Facebook, and hours at a time can be lost without even realizing it, often at the expense of more important things like homework, chores, etc. It may be wise to install a filter software that can monitor use and block certain sites during specified time periods to ensure that your kids don’t spend too much time on the website.
5. Indiscriminate Downloading – Facebook is notorious for third party apps that seek to gain access to personal data and the friend lists of members who use them. There’s a large risk associated with accepting gifts via some of these app, unfortunately, that could end up compromising your personal information.
6. Poor Grammar – As with chat rooms, IM’s, and text messaging, all of which came prior to social media, Facebook posts can tend toward cyber shorthand, whether it’s in the interest of brevity or simply born out of sheer laziness. Although it’s acceptable – even necessary in some cases – to limit character usage, it’s very easy for this habit to leak over to your child’s more formal writing and correspondence.
7. Not Safeguarding Personal Info – Facebook provides varying levels of privacy settings for its users. Members can share everything with anyone, or limit access to their profile to just friends and/or family. Kids today have become ok and even lax with the safeguarding of their personal information, and identity theft, stalking or harassment can end up being one of the penalties for your child being too open with his or her personal information.

Source:  Become a Nanny

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National Cyber Safety Awarness Month and Your Emails

Have you ever hit that SEND button then realized it went to the wrong person? After all, especially if you work with an address book, you could have more than one "Sue" in there, and another "Sue" just received my email. Unfortunately, this other "Sue" is not exactly one you wanted to know about the information that was intended for the other "Sue".

Yes, email does have have pet peeves we need to be aware of.

Whether you use email a little or a lot, there are certain things that annoy you about this communication tool. Sometimes the annoyance comes from the way others use it. Sometimes it is just your own frustration in dealing with the software and computers in general that is the issue.

1. Forwards. It isn't that we don't ever want anyone to forward us a great email message, we just hate it when that is ALL we receive from some people and that we receive them in multiples each day. It doesn't take long for those warm fuzzy messages and all those funny jokes to become very impersonal when that is all a person ever sends. All it takes is two or three email friends that are “Forward Junkies” to keep your email box filled with new time wasting mail every day.
2. Guilt and Greed messages. You know the ones I'm talking about. A lot of them have really great content in them but when you get to the end they hit you either with greed (send this to at least 10 people in the next 5 minutes and you're wishes will all come true) or with guilt (send this on to everyone on your mailing list if you're not ashamed of Jesus).
3. Not using bcc. Incase you are one of those who still doesn't know what bcc stands for, it's blind carbon copy. When you send those forwards on to people, don't use the To: or the CC: fields. There is another option, it is the BCC field. This keeps all the email addresses you are sending to hidden from the other recipients. Do your part to help prevent the spread of viruses and spam, use the bcc field when sending to multiple recipients.
4. Pictures and videos sent to dialup accounts. If you know that one of your email contacts has to access the internet via a dialup connection, have compassion on them. Think before you send them that Youtube video or the ten cute pictures of puppies. It will take forever for them to download at dialup speed and they can't get any of their other email until yours finishes loading.
5. Receiving files you can't open. Sometimes this issue could have been avoided with a little thought on the senders part, other times it is just a matter of the recipient not having an up to date computer or having an incorrect setting that doesn't allow them to open certain files that others can. If you have the newest version of MS Office, don't assume that everyone else does. Use your 'Save As' function to save the file in a different format that is compatible with a wider range of programs.
6. Reply All. Although this is a great feature, sometimes it gets used unintentionally and everyone on a list receives a reply meant for only one of you. This can be annoying, and potentially, embarassing.
7. Fear and hate messages. These are those messages that are intended to stir up fear, anxiety or even hatred. Often times the messages are political, racial or religious in nature. Usually they also mix truth with falsehoods or exaggerations to add to the confusion.
8. Use of text slang with non-texters. LOL – Does that mean 'Lots of Love'? Btw – Does that mean 'Before the War'? idk, ttyl Translation: I don't know. Talk to you later.
9. Assumptions that everyone checks their email daily. With so many having continual access to their email via their computers and cellphones, it is easy to assume that an email message will be received and read the same day it was sent. There are those who choose not to open their email inbox daily, either because they don't want to take the time or they don't expect to receive important communication via email on a regular basis. It can be frustrating to persons on both ends when an email regarding important news is not read until several days after it was sent.
10. Spam. This is the equivalent of electronic junk mail. Emails sent out to email addresses in mass mailings in the attempt to lure you to a website or infect you with a virus. They waste your time and endanger the security of your data. Good virus and anti-spam filtering software can help alleviate this annoying issue.

Electronic mail, we love it and we loathe it at times, but it has become a part of almost everyones life. We might as well learn how to use it in the most beneficial ways possible.

Source: My ISP Finder

I have personally received several emails from people that have "Sue" in their address books. Many were business related messages regarding meetings they were to attend and updates on conferences. I have politely emailed the people back saying they have emailed the wrong "Sue".

The Internet, it is a wonderful tool, you just need to use it responsibly.

15 Blogs with Best Tips for Your New Teenage Driver

Thinking about teaching your teen to drive might be giving you anxiety attacks, but with some careful planning and preparation it doesn’t have to. To help make the process a smoother one, it’s a good idea to start talking to your child about driving well before he’s ready to get behind the wheel. Your child is taking cues from you, so you need to model responsible driving skills, too. No matter how experienced of a driver you are, you’ll want to brush up on safe driving rules and laws before you start teaching your teen, as well as prepare some basic lessons for him once it’s time for him to start learning to drive. To learn more tips on how to teach your teen to drive, read these 15 blog articles.

Set a Good Example
Everyone is susceptible to road rage on occasion, and you’ve likely pushed the speed limit once or twice in your life. Think about your driving habits before you start teaching your teen to drive and fix any bad habits now, because your child is watching and learning driving habits years before he gets his learner’s permit. It’s never too early to start talking about defensive driving tips with your teen, and these five blog entries are full of tips to help you exhibit and teach good driving skills for your child.

• ICBC’s Tips for Teaching Your Teen to Drive Your kids are constantly watching you, so it’s important to remain a focused driver, not a distracted one.
• Five Tips for Teaching Your Teen to Drive Good driving is always important, but this is especially true whenever your teen is in the car.
• How to Teach Your Teen Good Driving Safety Your teen will pick up on your habits, so watch the speed limit and quench any road rage you may have.
• How to Teach Your Teenager to Drive Safely To teach your teen to drive safely, you should model the type of driver you want him to be.
• How to Encourage Safe Driving Practices in Your Teen Your teens are absorbing all of your driving habits, so start early by modeling responsible driving.

Know the Rules
Try to think back to when you took the driver’s test to get your own learner’s permit.  Do you remember the questions on the test?  If it’s been 20 years or so since you took the test, you probably need a refresher. After all, a lot of things can change in 20 years! Check out these five blog posts to learn why knowing the rules is necessary before starting driving lessons with your child.

• Tips for Teaching Your Teen to Drive It’s probably been a while since you studied all of the rules of the road, so brush up on your road rules before you begin driver’s ed with your teen.
• Tips on Teaching Your Teen to Drive This blogger recommends taking a rules refresher so that you know all of the rules before trying to teach them to your teen.
• Tips & Strategies for Teaching Your Teen to Drive Look online for a book that covers the rules of the road and brush up on the laws before you start teaching your teen driver.
• Teaching Your Teenager How to Drive As the teacher you need to read up on what the requirements are for your teenager to get her license.
• Family Solutions: Tips for Teaching Your Teen to Drive You can help your child study for the driver’s test by quizzing her on the rules of the road.

Plan Out Your Lessons
Before you get into the car with your teen it’s a good idea to plan out what you’re going to teach him. Start slowly by making sure that he knows how to adjust and work everything in the car.  Driving down the road in a sudden rain shower is no place to realize that he doesn’t know how to turn on the windshield wipers. These five blog postings will give you more tips on how you can break up your lessons.

• Tips for Teaching Your Teen to Drive Teaching on the fly will probably get the job done, but your lesson time might be better spent if you’ve planned out what you’re covering that day.
• Teaching Your Teen How to Drive Keep your lessons short and teach only one or two skills per lesson so that your teen can learn them without being overwhelmed.
• How to Help Your Teen Learn to Drive To ensure your teen understands and remembers each step make sure that you break up each lesson into smaller lessons.
• News: Top Tips for Teaching Teens to Drive You’ll find a list of skills on this post that you can break up into separate lessons to teach your teen.
• 5 Tips for Maintaining Your Sanity While Teaching Your Teen to Drive To avoid your teen becoming overwhelmed and nervous, don’t try to teach your teen everything at once.

What Your Kids Think of Your Digital Reputation

You know you’re a pretty good parent. Sure, you’re not perfect – but most of the time, you do what you have to do to provide a comfortable, nurturing life for your kids. Most importantly, your children love and respect you.

But because kids are naturally curious, they will start to wonder about aspects of your life that they aren’t familiar with. And since kids are computer-savvy, they’re likely to turn to the Internet to find the answers rather than ask you.

When they type your name into a search engine, what will they come across? Will they discover:

• Inflammatory comments from you? Did you insult someone on a Facebook thread? Send out a foul-mouthed tweet? Or perhaps you even kept a personal blog at one point that espoused ideas you’ve since “grown out of”? They’re still out in cyberspace somewhere.
  

• Embarrassing photos or videos with you in them? Maybe these images depict you drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, or consuming illicit drugs. Or perhaps you were wearing provocative or inappropriate clothing. Or it’s possible you were engaging in some activity that would require a difficult and uncomfortable explanation.
  

• Photos or videos containing you and other members of the opposite sex? Even innocent photos of you and an ex-significant other can set off a confused train of thought in the minds of (particularly young) children. Especially if you were kissing or hugging someone who isn’t their mother/father. (And God forbid that ill-advised sex tape ever made its way onto the Web!)
  

• Negative comments made by others about you? Kids are protective of their parents, so it may hurt them if they see other people saying bad things about Mom and Dad on Facebook or other social media sites, even if they were meant in jest. Especially if they were written by people that the child knows (like family friends or relatives).
  

• Your membership in groups that may be difficult to explain? In addition to traditional organizations, this includes online forums, virtual worlds, and even gaming sites. If you are found contributing to a site or group that discusses drugs, weapons, illegal activity, or pornography – even one time – that will probably initiate an awkward parent-child conversation.
  

• Complaints or accusations against you professionally? If you are a business owner, lawyer, or doctor, there are sites out there that collect reviews and comments about people in your industry. Practicing good merchant, attorney, or physician reputation management will reduce the odds of your kid seeing someone insult or gripe about their mom or dad.
  

• Your criminal record? Sure, those criminal record database sites cost a little money – but that doesn’t mean that your child still won’t get access to them. Even if it was a drug charge, public intoxication arrest, or a misdemeanor assault or theft, any blemish on your past could undermine any moral authority you have with your kids in the future.

You’ve probably already figured out the moral of this story: It is essential that you monitor your online reputation. This means getting problematic content off of sites you control, and even asking other site administrators to remove unflattering material. Because the last thing you want is for some long-ago incident or bad decision to come back to haunt you by jeopardizing your relationship with your children.

Guest post by Chris Martin.

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Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World

By Rosalind Wiseman

Rosalind’s new book, Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Your Son Cope with School Yard Power, Locker Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Realities of Guy World, shows what’s really happening in boys’ lives. It creates a new language and analytical framework to understand the power of boys’ social hierarchies and how these influence their decision-making and emotional well-being.

Order today!

Drive 4 Pledges Day September 19th

A movement is accomplished through the voices and actions of many. That is why four national wireless service providers, spearheading the It Can Wait campaign, are urging people to share their commitment to never text and drive with others on Drive 4 Pledges Day, September 19.

Individuals can now sign up at ItCanWait.com to get resources that will help them share their commitment on social media and personalize the movement on the streets of their communities on key activation days. Aspiring to create a social stigma around this dangerous habit of texting while driving, Drive 4 Pledges Day will focus on getting individuals involved in taking the pledge to never text and drive while encouraging others in their community to do the same. These individuals will join AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile US, Inc., Verizon and more than 200 other organizations by sharing their commitment not to text and drive while increasing awareness of the dangers.

On September 19, Drive 4 Pledges Day, supporters of the movement are called to help spread the word to their families, friends and communities. Advocates will be encouraged to do things like change their social profile photos and banner to It Can Wait graphics, and share their personal pledge stories using the hashtag #ItCanWait. Offline activations will include hosting pledge drives and distributing posters in their schools, workplaces and neighborhoods. All materials such as social graphics and posters will be available for download from ItCanWait.com.