Our language is not static. It is constantly changing as forms of communication advance. Today’s young people are speaking and navigating an enormous digital communication landscape, and parents often get lost in the lingo.
Here’s a few points of awareness in this area for parents:
- Young people have grown up in this environment; it’s their native tongue. This is not frivolous or a fad; it’s the future.
- What you type has deep meaning. Things like ALL CAPS, exclamation points!!, and emojis and gifs all have significant meaning beyond just the words we type.
- Young people are looking for connection. Whether its mindless streams of images or constant text messages, the basic need is to feel known, loved and accepted.
If you would like to do some further reading on these topics, we recommend Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch and Viral by Leonard Sweet.
Take some time this week to connect and communicate and maybe even learn some new language from a young person. Until next time – Be Abnormal!