SAN ANTONIO -- LOL means "Laughing Out Loud." OMG is the online abbreviation for "Oh My God." These are just a few examples of kid code. But there are other, more harmful ones out there.You can't go anywhere without seeing kids on their cell phones. But they're not using them to talk; they're using them to text. While most parents know their kids are texting, they're not always sure what they're saying.
Click here to watch News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters Mireya Villarreal's report.
Megan Curup told us, "I've never heard of any of them."
"I don't understand none of it," Rachel Cervantes agreed.
"I'm twenty years old and I don't know what any of those mean at all," said Joshua Wiley.
The News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters picked out a few of the codes that were more graphic than others. Then they tested parents.
Not a single parent was able to answer what PSOS meant; "Parent Standing Over Shoulder."
When we asked what the numbers 420 stood for or LGH, again, parents were speechless. We had to explain they both stood for "Let's Get High."
And one of the more explicit abbreviations, TDTM, took many by surprise. That means "Talk Dirty To Me."
"I'm amazed that there are that many," Rhonda Sciaraffa told us.
Kimberly Burke works with Northside School District as a Coordinator for the Safe and Drug Free Program. She says kids often use kid code to keep their conversations secret.
News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Mireya Villarreal asked, "When kids are on the internet or they're texting they feel like thy have some sort of anonymity. And they can say anything they want. Is that the case?"
"They do. There's some protection with being, not face to face. I think kids feel more empowered too," answered Burke.
Kimberly Burke says kids really put themselves in danger when they use these codes and don't tell their parents. The worry is who they may be texting and how that other person may interpret the codes.
"Teaching kids that those types of situations, pictures, messages, messages that have sexual innuendos, they can stay around for a long time," explained Burke.
She advises parents to do a little research on line, continually ask their kids what the codes mean and who they're talking to.
"That's alright. You try to be slick, but I'm going to be slicker than you because I'm going to find out what this means," said parent Rachel Cervantes. "There's no way you're going to go over my head. I'm going to go over yours!"
