Parents have been warned over the use of a new term that today’s teenagers are using – and it’s not good news. And while the seemingly innocent word will resonate at first as something fun and friendly by Gen X-ers and even millennials, today’s version comes with very different connotations.
Bringing back memories of school discos and embarrassing dance moves, the word ‘bop’ seems harmless to adults but the term, along with ‘school bop’ and ‘lala bop’ mean something far more sinister. The words have taken on a new meaning and are being used to shame young girls by labelling them as promiscuous.
Used both online and offline, teenagers nowadays are calling one another ‘bops’ as a derogatory slang term for a promiscuous woman who essentially ‘bops’ between lots of men.
The nasty turn of phrase, which is specifically directed at girls over boys, is a new development in ‘sl**-shaming’, when others shame another person – more often than not a female – for their supposed sexual activity. It has now developed further thanks to social media sites where the phrase is trending.
Scarily, this form of shaming takes things further than ever before, according to website Parents, who claim the name-calling on this level claims to ‘provide digital proof, whether real, taken out of context or entirely fabricated.’
The insult, based on someones supposed sexual history, started growing momentum a few years ago in late 2022 after someone posted a song called ‘Lala Bop’ to draw attention to others’ dating history. Now there are more than 321,000 posts on TikTok with the hashtag ‘#bop’.
Taking to TikTok herself, Chief Parent Officer at Bark Technologies and co-author of Parenting in a Tech World, Titania Jordan, warned other parents that their children – particularly their daughters – might become target, or already be one.
The video, that has been watched 3.1 million times, showed Titania explain what a ‘Lala bop’ is. She said: “What’s ‘Lala bop’? I’m so glad you asked. It’s not kind and it’s a trend that started in late 2022 when a TikTok user posted a song by that same name.
“The song has since started being used in call out videos that shame people for allegedly dating around or being promiscuous. Lala bop has also evolved to become a general video call out for any sort of ill-favoured behaviour.
“Someone may be targeted really for anything deemed negative. Not surprisingly, lala bops are used extensively in cyber bullying 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.'”
Being targeted as a supposed ‘bop’, whether in real life or in an online video, could be extremely harmful for a young woman. Titania is keen for parents to recognise the social media slurs as a ”teachable moment.”
She urged mums and dads to see this kind of content as an opportunity to “discuss the lasting implications of hurtful words, gossip or memes posted on social media.”
She added: “For the lala bop trend specifically, it’s an opportunity to talk about three things with your kids: consent, digital literacy and judgement.”
The Mirror has reached out to TikTok for comment.
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