A MUM has released an urgent warning on a buzzword to look out for.
Titanie Jordan, from the US, revealed the new word is being used by teens and could signal your daughter is being bullied.
2
2
For many of us, the word ‘bop’ means nothing more than a good song but not to the younger generation.
Titania Jordan, Chief Parent Officer at Bark Technologies and co-author of Parenting in a Tech World, revealed it is now being used as a derogatory slang term for a supposedly promiscuous woman who ‘bops’ between different men.
“It is a trend that started in late 2022 when a TikTok user posted a song by that same name,” she explained.
“The song has since started being used in call out videos that shame people for allegedly dating around or being promiscuous.”
‘Bop’, ‘school bop’ and ‘lala bop’ are all terms you should be on the lookout for that are being used as a form of slut-shaming.
‘Sl**-shaming’ is when someone criticises another person, usually a girl or woman, for their ‘sexual behaviour.’
It’s been done for centuries but the use of social media sites like TikTok have allowed it to take on new forms and develop on a much larger scale.
According to US website Parents, this novel form of sl**-shaming by using the term ‘bop’ goes further than name-calling since ‘users claim to provide digital proof, whether real, taken out of context or entirely fabricated.’
Titania added: “Someone may be targeted really for anything deemed negative.
“Not surprisingly, lala bops are used extensively in cyberbullying situations.
“Unfortunately, lala bops are most commonly directed at females as it implies that they have a high “body count”, which is slang for how many people someone has hooked up with.
“Lala bops may not even be true and could just be vicious rumours circulating.”
The parenting expert said the lala bop trend specifically is a great opportunity to talk about three things with your kids: consent, digital literacy and judgment.’
She encourages parents to ask teens if someone has the right to post a video in which they brand someone a ‘bop’.
To help them develop ‘digital literacy’, Titania urges parents to help children question why someone would spread stories about someone else online.
UK Childcare Laws: What do parents need to know?
And for judgment, parents should ask their offspring questions on whether someone has the right to use derogatory terms.
The clip posted to her TikTok account @titaniajordan has gone viral with over 3 million views and 83k likes.
People were quick to take to the comments to thank her and share their thoughts.
One person wrote: “My sister got posted to a ‘lala bop’. And it was all rumours, but their account got taken down!! AND THIS NEEDS MORE ATTENTION!!”
Another commented: “This just hit my daughter’s middle school. The guidance counselor told me it was an evolved slam book. It’s awful. I was in tears when my kid showed me.”
“All Lala Bop accounts should be banned and deleted! Cyberbullying is real and causes serious mental health issues in kids,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “Thank you I was so confused.”
“This needs to be seen by more people,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “LORDD THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING.”
Fabulous will pay for your exclusive stories. Just email: fabulousdigital@the-sun.co.uk and pop EXCLUSIVE in the subject line.
