As if many of our tweens and teens didn't speak another language, well, at least to us, already, now we have the parental responsibility of 'cracking the text codes' to ensure their safety today.

Many of you might recall the decoders that were placed inside and at the bottom of our favorite cereal boxes. We just couldn't wait to dig our unwashed, nasty hands, through the cereal, and into the bottom of the box to retrieve or much coveted and long-awaited decoder prize.

When I was a tween and teen, growing up in the 80's, we didn't text in code, but we certainly spoke in code.

I remember we had a phone in the kitchen and when dinner was over, and my parents were still at the table, I'd pick up the phone when a friend would call.

If you've ever been a smoker, then you know burning a smoke after dinner, or any other meal for that matter is a must. So, in code, I would tell my friend that I'd be over after dinner and then I would ask, "Is 'Rick' over there?'

Rick was short for Cigarette. My friends knew what I was saying and if they said 'yes', then I knew where I could bum a smoke after dinner.

Times have changed and so has how we communicate. Today, parents may want to pay attention to codes that are being sent back and forth from their tweens and teens, via texting, as it may help to keep them from harm.

Here are some of the codes and their meanings.

  1. 9 or CD9: Parents are nearby
  2. 99: Parents are gone
  3. 143: I love you
  4. 182: I hate you
  5. 1174: Party meeting place
  6. 53X: Sex
  7. 2DAY: Today
  8. 4EAE: Forever and ever
  9. ADN: Any day now
  10. ADR: What's your address
  11. AFAIK: As far as I know
  12. AFK: Away from keyboard
  13. ASL: Age/sex/location
  14. ATM: At the moment
  15. CU46: See you for sex
  16. DOC: Drug of choice
  17. F2F or FTF: Face to face
  18. FWB: Friends with benefits
  19. GNOC: Get naked on camera
  20. GYPO: Get your pants off
  21. HMU: Hit me up
  22. IMO: In my opinion
  23. IRL: In real life
  24. IWSN: I want sex now
  25. LH6: Let's have sex
  26. KMS/KYS: Kill Myself, Kill Yourself

We hope this helps you to decipher the codes that your kiddos use to communicate with friends. What are some codes you've seen? Feel free to share them in the comments section below.

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