The student-parent text interpreter

By Money Matters Team

Future

Avoid mixed messages.

Preparing for your son or daughter to go to university can be a busy and emotional time, but it needn’t all be serious. To help you avoid mixed messages once they’ve flown the nest, we’ve come up with an easy to understand student and parent text tool, below. You could even share it with your son or daughter on Twitter or Facebook as a gentle reminder for them to phone home!

Disclaimer: This is unlikely to be a sufficient replacement for normal day-to-day communications!

	Student > Parent		Parent > Student
Text	Message meaning	Text	Message meaning
B->	I’m fine – no need to worry!	???	Are you ok? We’re worried sick, you haven’t called for ages!
#-)	I have found the union bar.	}:-s	Please don’t drink too much.
:-D	Please send money!	:-\| \|-:	Let me talk to your mother/father.
[o]	Get the washing machine ready – I’m coming home!	:-)	It’ll be good to see you. I’ll ignore the comment about the washing machine.
:-P’’’	Please top up my BACB's Meal Ticket!	=8)	How much are you eating?
<:-(	I failed my exams…	/£	Your allowance has been cut off – go and get a job!

This Money Matters post aims to be informative and engaging. Though it may include tips and information, it does not constitute advice and should not be used as a basis for any financial decisions. BACB accepts no responsibility for the opinions and views of external contributors and the content of external websites included within this post. Some links may take you to another BACB page. All information in this post was correct at date of publication.