Understanding Your Kid's Internet Lingo

So your kid has been chatting with friends on the internet and, as a good and conscientious parent, you go over to check and see that every thing's ok. When you look on the screen you see that the most recent thing your kid typed is "POS". "What does that mean?" you wonder but everything looks ok and you trust your kid, so you just walk away. Did you do the right thing?

It's good if you can trust your kids, but when they're on the internet you never know if you can trust the person on the other side. Many good kids slip into trouble online without really trying too. That's where you come in.

Nebraska Attorney General , Jon Bruning has made some magnets designed to help parents stay on top of the often confusing internet lingo. If you can understand what they're acronyms are saying the you'll be able to keep a better watch out to make sure your kids are ok.

Here's a list of some common internet lingo and what it means:

Internet Lingo key for parents

	LMIRL	Lets meet in real life	121	One to one
	NP	Nosy Parent	WTGP	Want to go private?
	OLL	On-line love	A/S/L	Age, Sex, Location?
	PA	Parent alert	WUF	Where are you from?
	PAL	Parents are listening	WFM	Works for me
	PANB	Parents are nearby	SAW	Siblings are watching
	PM	Private message	TOS	Teacher over shoulder
	POS	Parents over shoulder	DIKU	Do I know you?
	YBS	You'll be sorry	W/E	Whatever
	WIBNI	Wouldn't it be nice if?	TAW	Teachers are watching

For more on Online Lingo check out www.safekids.ne.gov/lingo.html

You may also find his Safe Kids site of use. It's about protecting your kids on the internet. http://www.safekids.ne.gov/