I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t look around at the world today with amazement at the changes that have taken place in my lifetime. One of the most far reaching and most useful technological inventions that never ceases to amaze me is the cell phone. Gone are the days where in order to make a phone call, your phone had to be connected to a wall jack. Even worse, if you didn’t happen to have a home phone, you had to find a phone booth and put in coins to make a call. Talk about inconvenience. I for one, am very thankful for cell phones. They not only make our life easier and more connected, but they also take communication to a whole other level with the use of texting. Unfortunately, this whole new level can be confusing, annoying, and sometimes even funny.
Texting, either by design or mere chance, has quite literally become a whole new language. As a parent of teens, I have come to realize that I speak an entirely different language than my teen kids do. When I was young, we used acronyms such as “LOL”, which back then meant, “Lots of love.”
In today’s world of texting language, it has a completely different meaning. Unfortunately for me, I found out the hard way. A while back I was on Facebook and saw that a friend’s mother had passed away. I gave my condolences, and then ended it with LOL, just like I used to do when we were growing up. My older son, who of course is up to date on the latest texting meanings happened to read my post and in shock exclaimed out loud “Mom, why would you write LOL, don’t you like that person or something? Naturally I was confused at what he was talking about and asked him what he meant. He explained that LOL meant “laugh out loud”. Naturally I got in a little argument with him, until he went on Google and proved to me that the meaning had indeed been changed. I’m sure you can imagine my horror when I realized how my post must have sounded. Thankfully, I contacted my friend and explained my misunderstanding and was amused to find that she thought LOL meant “Lots of love” also. Talk about relief.
I learned a valuable lesson that day. I learned not only that the world had changed more than I had realized, but also, that I really needed to understand the language that my children are a part of. When I went to do some research, I was amazed at not only the amount of texting shorthand that is available, but also at the ingenious meanings that teens have come up with. How many parents know that “POS” means “parents over shoulder”, or that “PIR” means “parents in room?” I used to not know them, but I read up on the most common texting shorthand and was amazed to find out that there are hundreds of different acronyms used; so many in fact, it can make a parent crazy to try and decipher them.
So what is a parent to do? Well, if you are like me, you go on the internet and do some research so that you can be a little familiar with common texting shorts. Do I read my kids’ text messages? Yes I do. I’m sure there are people out there that will criticize me and say that I am snooping on my kid’s privacy, or that I don’t trust them. My answer to them would be that I am a parent, and parents should be involved in what is going on in their kid’s lives. It’s not snooping, its being a good parent. Do I read every single text that goes in and out of my kids phones? No, but I do monitor what is going on in their lives and read enough for me to feel comfortable with letting them keep their phones.
What I have learned as a parent of teens is that parents need to be involved in their teen’s life, every part, including their texting life. See what they are writing, and what they are reading. Let them know that you care about them and are concerned for them. If possible, find out what their personal texting shorthand means. If you are worried or concerned about what some of the meanings are, do some research and most importantly, talk to your teen about safety on cell phones, and all the other types of social media. Texting is just a new way that kids interact with one another. It’s not something that we as parents need to be afraid of, but rather to embrace and understand so that we can help guide our children.
Although I now have a small understanding of modern texting, and the acronym meanings, I still much prefer talking to another person rather than texting. However, in honor of texting acronyms everywhere, I will close with my favorite one of all time as said by Tiger from Winnie the Pooh: TTFN (Ta ta for now).
Crystal Schwalger has loved writing ever since she could remember. Her love of learning led her to Dixie State University where she graduated with a degree in English and Communications. She is passionate about writing and believes that you should never give up on your dreams. She is happiest when she is at home enjoying her backyard green spaces with her family. She currently lives in Washington Utah with her husband, her children, and her dog Kali.
