DENVER, Co. -- Back in the day, you probably stayed up all night talking on the phone to your best friend.

These days, kids let their fingers do the talking, instant messaging or texting their "BFF's" at any time of the day or night.

BFF is "best friend forever" in Internet shorthand.

7NEWS tested several parents on the streets of Cherry Creek North to see if they could crack the codes their own children use when sending texts by phone or instant messaging online.

Do you know what "POS" means? That's "parent over shoulder." Don't worry, the three dads we asked didn't know either.

We stumped another mom with "ASL." That's "age-sex-location," a phrase swapped liberally in chat rooms throughout the Internet when strangers meet.

Detective Mike Harris of the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office said cracking the codes kids use isn't about being cool, it's about keeping them safe.

"If they (parents) were to walk in, they may be missing a big red flag because they don't know the lingo or the language," Harris said.

Those red flags include the abbreviations "F2F", or "face to face," and "IRL," which means "in real life." Harris said those terms may indicate the predator is trying to meet your child in person.

Harris makes a living posing as children online to catch Internet predators in the act, but he said the perverted criminals are even better than he is at talking to kids at their level.

Mike Irwin of Webroot Software said, "With the advent of social networking, what you've seen is the challenge of moving from protecting kids from inappropriate content to inappropriate contact."

Irwin's company has developed a program called Child Safe to help parents prevent that inappropriate contact.

But ultimately, only parent involvement and supervision can make the difference when it comes to keeping kids safe online.

To view a handbook for parents on how to protect children online, click here.

For a list of chat, e-mail and acronyms, click here.