Kids Are Learning Coded Language Like 'MAP' Online – We Need To Talk About It

An academic has opened up about the alarming moment she realised her 10-year-old daughter had been contacted by a stranger online who asked her “do you like children?”, to which the child replied: “I’m not a MAP.”

For those who are unaware of the acronym’s meaning (I certainly hadn’t heard of it before writing this), MAP stands for ’minor attracted person’.

Sharlette Kellum, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas Southern University, wrote for The Conversation: “In that moment, I realised something unsettling but important: Children are encountering coded language online long before many parents even know it exis...