Netflix show Adolescence has been praised for grappling with hard-hitting topics, highlighting misogyny, gender-based violence and the underbelly of the internet.
The hit drama, starring Stephen Graham, follows a young boy who gets arrested for killing a female classmate.
One of the issues raised in the hit drama is the ways teenagers are using seemingly every day emojis to mean completely different things.
Amari Bacchus plays Adam, a schoolmate of the boy at the centre of the drama, and during one of the episodes he explains the covert meaning behind each one. Here is your guide to the emojis mentioned in the show, and their potential hidden meaning plus 43 more hidden meaning emojis released by the police so you can be clued up on any messages your teens could be sending or receiving…
© Courtesy of Netflix💊 = In reference to the dystopian film The Matrix, this means seeing the truth. In this case, the supposed 'truth' of gender dynamics and young men going against feminism.
💥 = In the show it is used next to the pill emoji to indicate the pent-up sexual frustration of 'incels' - involuntarily celibate people who believe they cannot find a sexual partner.
© Netflix💯 = Refers to the theory that 80 per cent of women are attracted to 20 per cent of men, therefore lowering the chances of the average man securing a partner.
🫘 = A derogatory image used to mock women and to identify a man as an 'incel'.
The teen in the show also spoke about how different coloured love hearts can mean different things, like a yellow heart meaning 'I'm interested' for example.
As well as the emojis highlighted in the show, there are a whole host of other ones being used for sinister activity such as communicating about drugs. A horse has been used to symbolise ketamine while images like a leaf can mean cannabis, snowflake can mean cocaine and a balloon can mean nitroxide. While a sign for a drug dealer can be an eight ball or a plug.
A side-eye emoji can denote the sending or receiving of explicit images, and a chilli emoji could also indicate sexually 'spicy' imagery or messages.
As well as communicating through these, it has been made known that teens also have a secret code to chat amongst themselves. Popular abbreviations like CU46 mean 'see you for sex' and KPC means 'keep parents clueless'
What to do if you find these suggestive messages on your child's phone?
Back in 2022, Surrey Police force released a guide to 43 potentially dangerous or sinister emojis in order to inform the general public of how teens could be communicating.
They advised: "The use of these emojis on their own do not necessarily mean teenagers are involved in drugs or sexual behaviour," and told parents to monitor other behaviours like becoming more secretive.
If a parent is suspicious and thinks their child may need help, there are a variety of different places to reach out. Talk to Frank, NSPCC and Catch22 are all organisations where extra information can be obtained.
