Teen lingo: Could you translate it?

Summertime for some teens means spending more time at home and on their cell phones.

It also means parents may have less supervision over what they are doing on their phones, online and on social media.

ABC-7 put some parents to the test at Wet-N-Wild Waterworld where many of them were with their chidren.

They were asked to identify three acronyms that may be seen in text messages or on social media:

– GNOC (get naked on camera)
– WTTP (want to trade pictures?)
– PAL (parents are listening)

“I’m racking my brain, but I have no idea,” said Shannon Van Ness. Other parents said the same thing.

They were surprised to learn the meanings of the acronyms.

“It disgusts me some of the things that they say. It’s disappointing,” Van Ness said.

“What I’ve learned is I need to learn some of these things because I didn’t know very many of them, so maybe if I understand what they’re saying then I can better talk to them about it,” said Lauren Curry.

CyberWise.org was founded in 2011 by two women who follow how human behavior is affected by the media and how to use it to influence social change.

The website reported between 2014 and 2016, the number of 12 to 17-year-olds using smartphones climbed from 71 to 84 percent.

CyberWise has recommendations for parents who want to keep track of their child’s cell phone activity.

– Simply look through their phones
– Download apps that monitor their phone usage (some may require a fee)
– Create a contract with you child
– Sign kids up for a ‘cyber civics’ class

The website recommends not punishing your child by taking their phone if you find something inappropriate. It may keep them from telling if they do encounter a problem in the future.

“I know the password to her phone, so I just pick it up whenever I want,” said Van Ness of her daughter’s phone.

CyberWise said from 2012 to 2016 the number of parents who impose strict limits on their children’s smartphone behavior dropped from 49 to 41 percent.

“They’re pretty open and communicative with us so I guess if we felt like something was going on, we would monitor, but we’ve never felt like we’ve had to,” said Curry of her children.