As a Gen X woman, I have to admit, I am SLOW on the uptake with technology, texting and social media. So far, I’ve been able to hold off my boys (ages 8 & 10) from having cell phones or their own social media pages. I get that we don’t live in a cave and the time will come when I will have to make space for these in our lives. This thought is completely overwhelming to me. I know very little about the current lingo or much at all about the scope of pre-teens and tweeners in the social media sphere.
Two helpful resources that I’m sure will come in handy for me in the not-so-distant future are the following:
transl8it.com: This website allows you to type in a seemingly encrypted, shorthanded text message and it will automatically be translated into a readable, actual English sentence.
netlingo.com: This link will give you access to a comprehensive listing of current text abbreviations.
As for everything else? I could use some help. Riverview Counseling Services is offering a FREE presentation on this extremely important topic. Social Media and the Pre-Teen: Basic Parent Know-How will cover how to better communicate with your child about texting and social media, as well as offering you a guiding framework to establish necessary safety rules. Please click on this link (riverviewcounselingservices.com) to register online for this upcoming workshop. It will be held on Thursday, March 19th, @1:00pm (see how I threw the @ symbol in, I’m very advanced) and will be facilitated by Lara White, MSW, LCSW. You can also register by calling Chery Denz, MA, LCPC at (630) 587-3777 x103.
Written by Diana DeVaul, MSW and Parent
