Definitions to Help Defend Your Children

Common definitions and Internet language associated with kids’ online activities:

a/s/l - IM shorthand for age/sex/location

MIRL - IM shorthand for Meet in Real Life

P911 - IM shorthand for Parent Alert

Parental Controls - options, typically included in digital television services, computer and video games, or computer software used to access the Internet, that allow a parent to monitor or limit what a child can see or do and/or time-limit these activities. These controls may allow for parents to limit the amount of time their children spend on the internet, regulate which kinds of sites their kids can go to, and filter out specific types of content.

PAW - IM shorthand for Parents Are Watching, PAW is often used by children and teens to let their friends know that their parents are watching their chat conversation.

POS - IM shorthand for Parents Over Shoulder

POTS - IM shorthand for Parents Over the Shoulder

Social Network - a social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, friendship, kinship, dislike, conflict or trade. The resulting graph-based structures are often very complex. Examples of social networks include Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.

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