Inspirational teenager who created an

anti-bullying app when she was

THIRTEEN says she is 'heartbroken'
that online trolls are driving
youngsters to suicide
A game-changing app, which forces teenagers to rethink offensive
remarks before posting them online, has been manufactured to stamp out
the problem of online trolls.

The sophisticated software, known as reThink, is the brain child of tech

whiz, Trisha Prabhu, 15, from Illinois, who was only 13 when she devised
the technology.

The premise behind it is simple: teenagers are impulsive and would be

less likely to post offensive messages if they paused before posting
anything, which is exactly what ReThink enables them to do.
Tech whiz, Trisha Prabhu, 15 from Illinois, was 13 when she devised ReThink, an app to tackle
cyber bullying

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The app scans messages or posts for offensive content and creates a warning prompt such as
'Would you like to pause, review and ReThink before typing anything that may be offensive?' as
pictured, left, on a mobile device. The app also creates alerts on emails (right) and social
network posts

The software scans messages or posts for offensive content and creates
a warning prompt such as 'Is this message worthy of you?'
Trisha ran 1,500 scientific trials and found that when adolescents
received a ReThink prompt, they changed their minds 93 per cent of the
time.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Trisha, who was a finalist at Google's Science Fair,

which recognises the world's brightest young minds, explained: 'In the
spur of the moment or under peer pressure, many kids post offensive
messages online without realising the extent of the damage they are
causing.

'But, as my research shows, if they are provided a chance to pause,

review and ReThink their decision to post this message, kids change their
minds and decide to not post a hurtful message.

'ReThink is a simple, innovative, transformational solution that changes

bulIies' behaviour and helps develop sound decision-making skills on and
off internet.'

A study last year by UK anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label found seven
in ten young people are victims of cyber bullying and 37 per cent of them
are experiencing it on a highly frequent basis.
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Trisha Prabhu, pictured at TEDxTeen, held in London, said: 'In the spur of the moment or under
peer-pressure, many kids post offensive messages online without realising the extent of the
damage they are causing'

Trisha decided to tackle the issue in 2013 after learning about an 11-year-
old girl from Florida who committed suicide after being repeatedly bullied
online.

'I was shocked, heartbroken and angry,' Trisha said. 'How could a girl
younger than me be pushed to take her own life?

'I started thinking about what I could do to stop this from ever happening
again. I have always been fascinated by the inner workings of the brain.

'When I read that news story about cyber bullying suicide, I wondered
what caused adolescents to actually post mean and hurtful messages?'
Trisha embarked on a science project for school to analyse whether age
affects willingness to post hurtful messages. Results from the project
found adolescents were 50 per cent more willing than adults to do so.

'The results didn't surprise me,' said Trisha.

Devoted to the cause, Trisha then performed an extensive study of the

adolescent brain and how it develops over the years. And something in
particular caught her attention.

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Trisha ran 1,500 scientific trials and found that when adolescents received a ReThink prompt,
they changed their minds 93 per cent of the time

'There is one single part of the brain that alone takes close to 25 years to
fully develop and that is responsible for decision making skills.
'Don’t we have a problem here? Could this be why adolescents make
rash, impulsive decisions? Could this be why they are more willing to post
hurtful messages on the internet?

'Overcome by the passion to stop my fellow adolescents cyber bullying

others, I carried out this project to find a solution to stop these hurtful
messages from being posted.'

And so the the software for ReThink was born, which approaches the
issue of cyber bullying from a totally new direction.

Until ReThink launched, social media sites were trying to stop cyber
bullying using what Trisha calls a 'stop, block and tell' method. The idea is
that if teens receive an offensive message, they stop what you are doing,
block the bully and tell an adult.

'While it sounds good on paper, it does not work in reality,' explained

Trisha.

'Research shows that nine out of ten kids do not tell anyone. They suffer
in silence. Cyberbullying is a silent pandemic.

'Research has found that 52 per cent of adolescents online in the US

alone have been cyber bullied. A quarter of the world’s population is
adolescents - we’re talking 1.8 billion teens.
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Trisha sees ReThink as a movement and has already been invited to spread her message at
international platforms including the White House as well as conferences in London, Mumbai
and Mexico

'The majority of us are on social media – and the number of adolescents

around the world being cyber bullied continues to grow.

'It’s an electronic and insidious form of verbal abuse and just like real-life
bullying; victims experience depression, anxiety, low self-esteem,
increased drop-out rates and suicidal tendencies.

'Recent research, conducted in UK, indicates that the harmful effect of

cyber bullying lasts well into a person’s 50s and 60s.

'As the technological revolution continues to unfold, the more kids get
online and the scourge of cyber bullying continues to grow.'
Trisha admits she has experienced bullying first-hand but says she would
let the taunts wash over her.

'I had been cyber bullied regarding my wardrobe choices when I was
young, but I considered myself a strong girl,' she said.

'I never let any of those bother me. When I read about this cyber bullying
suicide, I realised that there must be many young kids that are suffering
from cyber bullying.

'My research showed that over 52 per cent of the adolescents online in
the US have been a victim of cyber bullying or have witnessed it happen. I
started thinking about what I could do to stop this from ever happening
again.'

'We are in the midst of social media revolution. Kids as young as age
seven or eight are getting on social media. Technology and the internet
gives kids great power.'

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Silent pandemic: UK anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label found seven in ten young people are
victims of cyber bullying and 37 per cent of them are experiencing it on a highly frequent basis

'But with that power comes great responsibility that the kids are not ready
for yet,' she said.

Beyond it's guise as an app, which is free to download for android and
Apple devices, Trisha sees ReThink as a movement and has already
been invited to spread her message at international platforms - including
the White House and TEDxTeen in London as well as conferences in
Mumbai, Mexico and elsewhere in America.

'My goal is to raise awareness about the ReThink mind-set amongst my

peers around the world,' she said.

Trisha has also launched a ReThink ambassador programme, which

encourages schools and communities to nominate two students on the
website www.rethinkwords.com to become ambassadors for the anti-
bullying concept.

As well as being awarded the Google Science Fair Global Finalist award,
she has also received the International Diana award for anti-bullying and
the Daily Points of Light award from the George W Bush foundation.

'All of those awards and accolades would mean so much more if I am

able to get ReThink in the hands of millions of kids at no cost to them,'
she said.

'My plan is to get ReThink out in the hands of every adolescent at no cost
to them. I am working to build ReThink in various international languages
for mobile and desktop computers around the world.'