that’s “keep parents clueless”. Here are some things your kids don’t want you to know.

   For as long as there have been smartphones there have been people trying to hide things from their parents or significant others. Teens and pre-teens are particularly skilled at sending text messages in secret codes just in case their parents want to check their phones.

  Emoji have been used for these secret messages for years but parents have discovered some of those emoji combinations are easily de-coded. The ‘eyes’ emoji paired with an emoji of a piece of fruit or vegetable means someone is asking to see nude pictures. The ‘wind’ or ‘smoke’ emoji are used to signify smoking or vaping. Other emoji often used to send a message about drug use are ‘leaves’ or a ‘leaf’. 

  Now that parents have deciphered emoji meanings, many teens and pre-teens are using acronyms more frequently that are almost impossible for an adult to understand what’s being communicated. Kids might text someone that “KPC” which is code for “keeping parents in the dark”. According to the website NetLingo, these are some of the most common (and troubling) acronyms being used by people today.

WTTP                               want to trade pics?

WYA                                 where you at

WYD                                what are you doing?

FWB                                 friends with benefits

TDTM                               talk dirty to me

MOS, DOS, POS             parents are watching  9, cd9 or code 9, prw

AITR                                adult in the room

KPC                                 keeping parents clueless

THIRSTY                        needs attention, usually sexual

FINSTA                           a second instagram account (often secret)

K2                                   synthetic marijuana

121                                 move to a private or one-on-one chat

143                                  i love you

182                                  i hate you

4Q                                   F*^&% You

53X                                 sex

?^                                    hook up

ASL                                 age, sex, location

COBRAS                         come on by right after school

GAP                                 gotta pic

LH6                                  let’s have sex

LHOS                               online sex

NIFOC                             naked in front of computer

PA, P911                          parent alert

RU/18                              are you over 18 

RU\18                              are you under 18

If you’re suspicious don’t just check their messaging app

Suspicious parents who are searching through text messages looking for these acronyms may not see them in messaging apps that come pre-loaded on smartphones. Smartphone messaging apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Signal are increasingly being downloaded and used to send encrypted messages to friends and others they’ve met online. Those apps can automatically delete messages after they’ve been read.

Parents searching a phone for those apps may not see them. There are dozens of ‘hidden locker’ apps for iPhones and Android devices where people can store apps they don’t want someone else to see. In iOS 14, users can hide apps from their home screen. Suspicious parents may want to scroll to the left to the last screen where they can find a list of all apps that are installed on the phone.