This year’s main craze, emojis, have not only become Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year, but also one of the biggest fads among students. Toppling the timeless reign of picture-less conversations, emojis have proved themselves to “be worth a thousand words,” Alex Kocab, senior, said.

For those who own smartphones, the usage of emojis has quickly enhanced text messages and many cannot imagine sending a message without them. According to a New York Magazine article, 74 percent of people in the United States and 82 percent in China responded that they always use an emoji when sending a message. At Homestead, the majority of students and teachers also enjoy emojis as “instead of trying to understand emotion through words, you can actually see it through pictures,” Chelsea Rowe, sophomore, said.

As emojis are specifically targeted for use by younger generations, many adults are clueless about which one to use, or what an emoji is. For instance, Mr. Joseph Ciurlik, social studies teacher, stated that “he has never used emojis and the first emoji he uses will be his last one.”

Click on the featured video to see teachers react to and attempt to explain some of the most popular emojis.