Teens Are KPC - 'Keeping Parents Clueless' -- When It Comes To Texting
DENVER (CBS4) - Texting has become a most popular form of communicating, especially among teens. They seem to have their own language, but it's a language that could put them in danger with Internet predators.
CBS4's Suzanne McCarroll talked to some teens to find out what they're saying and what the risks are.
"Do you use abbreviations so your parents don't know what you're saying?" McCarroll asked a group of teens.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want her knowing what I say. She won't like it," a boy responded.
"Like LIQ, we'll do … for like 'liquor' or something like that," a girl said.
"DTC, like 'Down To Chill,' " another boy said.
McCarroll asked the teens if she'd be able to understand their texts. They said she wouldn't.
TDTM is "talk dirty to me," and GYPO means "get your pants off." But there are a lot more acronyms that are much racier.
"Embarrassed, horrified, worried," said a mother who didn't want to be identified.
The mother knew little of what her 15-year-old daughter was texting and was horrified when she found out.
"The picture was of herself naked," the mother said.
GNOC means "get naked on camera." But the mother, like so many parents, knew nothing of the abbreviations.
"There are just so many things on the phone and technology that I don't know about that our kids do -- that they can hide things from us," the mother said.
"POS, 'parent over shoulder,' " said Jefferson County District Attorney investigator Mike Harris.
Harris patrols Internet sites working to keep children safe. He urges parents to be proactive in deciphering the teen texting code.
"Parents can go and go to like a dictionary and plug in what they have seen on a phone or on their kids' messaging; they can actually find out what they're talking about," Harris said.
He says it's not just teens exchanging X-rated texts; there are Internet predators looking to solicit children by using acronyms or abbreviations on social media.
"Sometimes it's very graphic, the short cut, but we as parents would never know it because we don't understand it," Harris said. "They're very sexually suggestive acronyms, kids know them, predators know them."
"How naive do you think most parents are?" McCarroll asked Harris.
"Very naive ," he replied.
Harris takes his message to schools to educate even young children about the dangers of inappropriately communicating by text or Internet.
"These kids are getting iPads in kindergarten, first grade," he said.
The high schoolers McCarroll talked with were quick to say they learned their X-rated acronyms early to keep their parents in the dark.
"(My mom) would probably ground me, take my phone," a boy said.
Parents should do their research and not have this acronym used on them -- KPC, "keeping parents clueless."
Parents can used the following websites to learn more about texting:
