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For some parents and guardians, their baby's cries are as clear as speech. A high-pitched cry means, "I'm tired," and a wailing cry means, "Feed me now!" Yet no matter how well you communicate with your kids, once they hit those teenage years, it all seems to come undone.

Take instant messaging (IM) for example. Through the use of chat acronyms like IDK and LOL teens have perfected the art of being unintelligible. However, concerned parents and guardians know that helping their children make safer and smarter online choices means talking with them and keeping an eye on new tech trends.

So what are they saying? Test your knowledge with the sample IM conversation below. If you need to read the second column, then check out some resources below to brush up on the net lingo your children may be using.

Still confused? Check out these quizzes to learn more net lingo:

Your Kids Can Fill in the Blanks. Can You?

Online Lingo

Take an Internet Safety Quiz Now

On the social networking site Facebook, every user's homepage contains a feed which looks something like this:

Sonia L. joined the group People Who Love Jane Austen 9:14 am

Marcus B. is ready for the weekend! 11: 02 am

Grace K. is engaged to Jon H. 5:46 pm

Joy Y. and Mariam G. are friends. 10: 31 pm

The feed gives you information about what actions the people on your friends' list are taking, from changes in relationship status to who else they are talking to on the site. On their home pages, your friends are shown the actions which you take in the Facebook universe as well.

In Web 2.0 where users not only download but upload content, the meaning of privacy has begun to shift so drastically that tweens and teens in particular seem to be leaning in the complete opposite direction. Not only do they share the information that they can't get around sharing, but they eagerly upload content about their lives onto the Web from pictures and videos to opinion pieces and poems. At times there seems as if there is nothing that tweens and teens won't put on the Internet – a cause of anxiety and concern among many parents and guardians who fear that unfiltered access to the lives of their teens and tweens will make them potential targets for Internet predators or cost them future educational and employment opportunities.

This concern is valid; tweens and teens should always be careful about posting too much personal information on the Web, but what constitutes too much? Should teens share about personal moments, such as a first kiss or the loss of a loved one? Is it OK for them to post pictures of themselves at the amusement park or in the school play? The debate between the younger, more wired generation and their parents and guardians about how and what is too much is destined to continue. Finding a balance may be tough but parents can start by setting boundaries with children about what information they can share, and occasionally check over their social networking sites, blogs, and pictures to ensure that they are staying within those boundaries.

Teen shock videos are becoming more popular on YouTube and social networking sites. Several cases in the U.S. indicate that kids are videotaping and posting fights online in order to gain Internet fame. Police in Boulder, CO broke up one teen fight club and are investigating others. In another case, a 16 year-old girl in Lakeland, FL was assaulted by a group of six girls while two boys stood guard. One of her assailants then posted the video online. The girls allegedly attacked her because of comments the victim made on MySpace. While cases like these have drawn media attention to the issue, this is not a new trend.

Talk to your kids about the draw of watching and creating shock videos. Make sure they understand that posting these videos online will not bring them fame but infamy. Remind them that videos posted online can be used by police as evidence in a crime and that both the "actors" and the "camera person" could be prosecuted. This is good news for bullying victims who now have evidence of the assaults. If you or your child sees evidence of a crime online, don't ignore it! Notify the police and help send a message about responsible online behavior. Check out these tips for parents about how to talk to your kids about online violence from Common Sense Media.