25 videos · 29 organisations

Watch & read.

We can tell you what the words mean. For everything underneath them — the psychology, the platforms, the risks — here are the people who actually know. Broadcasters, clinicians, universities and national regulators, none of them affiliated with us.

Nothing here is hosted by us and nothing plays until you press play.

Why they talk like this

The best explanation of teenage slang isn't a glossary — it's what platforms and algorithms are doing to language. Start here.

TED · 13:56
Are We Cooked? How Social Media Shapes Language | Adam Aleksic | TED
A linguist explains why slang now changes faster than any generation gap can account for: the words are being selected by recommendation algorithms, not by teenagers. If you watch one thing on this page, watch this — it is the argument the rest of this site rests on.
Storied (PBS) · 7:32
Is Social Media Censorship Unaliving Language? | Otherwords
Where 'unalive', 'seggs' and 'grippy sock' actually come from: moderation filters. Explains the mechanism behind the terms on our red flag list better than the list itself can — worth watching before you read that page.
Scientific American · 25:40
All about ALGOSPEAK feat. @etymology_nerd | Science Quickly Video Podcast
A longer, calmer conversation on the same subject, for anyone who wants the reasoning rather than the highlights.
TED Podcasts · 34:25
Gen Z's way of talking, explained | ReThinking
Adam Grant's interview version, aimed squarely at adults who find the vocabulary irritating and want to understand why it exists before they object to it.
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle · 5:31
TikTok teacher Mr. Lindsay breaks down Gen Z slang terms
Five light minutes of a secondary school teacher translating the basics. The one to send to a grandparent.

Phones, feeds and growing up

The wider argument about adolescence and smartphones, including the parts that are still genuinely contested.

TED · 38:15
Are Smartphones Ruining Childhood? | Jonathan Haidt | TED
The most widely argued-about case for a link between smartphones and the adolescent mental health decline. Note that the strength of that link is genuinely disputed among researchers — this is the argument, clearly put, not a settled finding.
TODAY · 12:15
Teens open up about the impact of social media on their lives
Teenagers describing their own use, in their own words. A useful corrective if the adults in the previous video are the only voices you've heard on this.
Common Sense Media · 3:17
Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences
Three minutes of survey findings on what teenagers say social media does to their mood — both directions, not only the bad one.

Friendship & being left out

Exclusion, group chats and the kind of bullying that leaves no bruise and no evidence.

Read the friendship & being left out hub →

eSafety Commissioner (Australia) · 11:41
Cyberbullying and online drama
A national online safety regulator on the difference between drama, conflict and bullying — and on what to do at each level. Practical rather than alarmed, which is rare on this subject.
Opinion Science · 6:22
The Psychological Effects of Feeling Excluded
The research on ostracism, including the finding that being left out registers much like physical pain. Explains why 'they made a new gc without me' is not the small thing it sounds like.

Looks & body image

Where looksmaxxing came from, who is selling it, and what it is doing to boys in particular.

Read the looks & body image hub →

60 Minutes Australia · 27:31
Looksmaxxing: Inside the dangerous trend taking over the feeds of young men | 60 Minutes Australia
Current affairs journalism on looksmaxxing, mewing and the surgery end of it. Told in the register of a TV exposé, so watch it for the reporting on the subculture rather than for clinical guidance.
ABC News In-depth · 28:08
How the 'manosphere' is fuelling teen misogyny inside Australian schools | Compass
The wider ecosystem the looksmaxxing vocabulary comes out of, reported from inside schools. Relevant to what 'chopped' and face-rating are doing socially, not only individually.
TEDx Talks · 14:50
We need to talk to boys about online misogyny | Ben Hurst & Jamie Windust | TEDxLondonWomen
The practical counterpart: how to raise the subject with a teenage boy without the conversation ending in the first thirty seconds.
Common Sense Media · 1:00:51
Raising Boys in the Digital Wild: Care & Community for Their Well-Being
A full-length panel for parents of boys. Long, and worth putting on in the background if this is the topic that brought you here.

School & pressure

Clinicians on adolescent stress and anxiety — what is ordinary, and what isn't.

Read the school & pressure hub →

TVO Today · 28:04
Lisa Damour: What's Going On With Teenagers? | The Agenda
A clinical psychologist on what adolescent distress normally looks like, and the point at which it stops being normal. The clearest half hour we found on that distinction.
American Psychological Association · 46:18
Anxiety and teen girls, with Lisa Damour, PhD | Speaking of Psychology
The APA's own podcast, going deeper on stress and anxiety in adolescent girls specifically.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · 3:49
All About Anxiety: What Teens and Young Adults Should Know
Under four minutes, addressed to the teenager rather than to you. Fine to watch together, which is the point of it.

Gaming & online life

Short, practical guidance on voice chat, in-game contact and the controls that actually exist.

Read the gaming & online life hub →

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life · 3:50
Digital Safety 101: A Parents' guide to gaming
A paediatric hospital's four-minute orientation for parents who don't game: what the platforms are, where strangers come into contact with your child, and which questions are worth asking.
eSafety Commissioner (Australia) · 2:25
Safer online gaming
Two and a half minutes from the regulator, focused on voice chat — the unlogged, unmoderated part where most of the risk actually sits.
Internet Matters · 0:46
How to set parental controls on Discord | Internet Matters
Under a minute, screen by screen. Discord is where a lot of gaming friendship groups actually live, and its controls are not where you'd expect to find them.
Internet Matters · 1:00
How to interact safely with others in online video games
A one-minute version of the same advice, pitched so you can watch it with your child rather than about them.

Romance & situationships

Mostly about sextortion, because it is the one risk in this area that escalates in hours rather than months.

Read the romance & situationships hub →

CBC News: The National · 6:08
Why sextortion on chat apps is not 'a parenting problem'
Six minutes on how sextortion is actually run — organised, scripted and fast. The argument that it is a platform failure rather than a supervision failure is the reason to watch it: it changes what you say to your child afterwards.
CBS News · 6:33
Financial sextortion scams targeting teen boys
The same crime from the US side, and specifically the version aimed at boys — the group least likely to tell anyone. Includes what to do in the first hour.

When it's not a joke

Self-harm and suicide, covered by clinicians. Difficult to watch, and the most useful twenty minutes on this page.

Read the when it's not a joke hub →

Maudsley NHS · 12:32
Supporting a child or young person struggling with self-harm: A guide for parents and carers.
NHS clinicians on responding to self-harm — including the reaction most parents have first, and why it tends to close the conversation. The single most useful video on this page if you have found something.
Samaritans · 0:59
How to support someone who is self-harming - Samaritans
One minute, if that is all you have right now. Samaritans' 116 123 line is open whether or not the situation is an emergency.

Where to get proper help

The organisations.

We decode the language. These people do the support. All independent and free at the point of use — several run helplines that will talk to a parent who isn't sure there is a problem yet.

Online safety, generally

Start here if you want app-by-app guidance rather than advice about a specific worry.

Bullying and exclusion

Including the research base, if you need to make a case to a school rather than just to your child.

Body image and eating

Both organisations below run helplines, and both will talk to a parent who is not sure whether there is a problem yet.

Images, sextortion and getting things taken down

If an image is already out there, these are the two services that actually remove it. Neither requires you to upload the image itself.

Mental health, day to day

For the long middle ground between 'they seem a bit off' and a crisis.

If it is urgent

These lines are for parents as well as for children. You do not need to be certain before you call one.

Links are checked before each campaign push, but organisations restructure their sites. If one of these is broken, tell us at info@wmvp.dev and we'll fix it.

Start with the words themselves.

All of this lands better once you know the vocabulary it's describing. That part takes two minutes.

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If you are worried about a child right now — Call or text 988 · Call 116 123 · or find a helpline in your country at findahelpline.com.