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Naperville teen's idea to end cyberbullying picks up steam

When Trisha Prabhu developed a computer program to help combat cyberbullying, she was hoping she might make a difference.

The Naperville teen never dreamed her idea would make her something of an international sensation and lead to speaking engagements in several countries, an appearance in a Super Bowl commercial and a prominent spot at the White House Science Fair.

Trisha, 14, was a global finalist in the 2014 Google Science Fair for her project called Rethink, a program that prompts Internet users to reconsider potentially offensive messages before posting them on social media.

Instead of attending a typical week of honors and AP classes at Neuqua Valley High School, Trisha spent March 23 at the White House Science Fair meeting national legislators. She then traveled to New York City for a global teen leadership summit with 29 others from around the world.

"I've had some incredible experiences," such as speaking in India, London and Chicago, Trisha said from New York City. "All it has done is further motivate me to pursue my project."

Trisha's project - Rethink - began as an experiment a year ago in Kim Krupicka's eighth-grade gifted science class at Scullen Middle School. Trisha began by conducting research to determine if age affects a person's likelihood of posting an offensive message.

After reading about an 11-year-old who committed suicide because of cyberbullying, she was moved to test potential solutions, including whether a pop-up window could discourage teens from posting nasty online comments.

She found it could - 93 percent of the time - so she began coding Rethink as an add-on program for the Internet browser Google Chrome. Whenever the program's artificial intelligence detects an offensive phrase, such as those recognized by the Cyberbullying Research Center, it displays a box asking the user to reconsider.

Trisha entered the program and her research in last year's Google Science Fair and progressed as far as the global finalist level.

Her work was recognized as part of Coca-Cola's "Make it Happy" Super Bowl ad campaign, in which she speaks about how she used to be cyberbullied for things like her wardrobe or the shoes she would wear to school. Trisha explains during a 3:26-minute video that stopping cyberbullying has become her passion.

"I'm working so hard to stop cyberbullying, but it's still a daily reality," Trisha said. "It's hard to accept that it won't disappear right away."

Change will take time, but Trisha's mother, computer scientist Bhanu Prabhu, said her daughter's innovation is nearly ready to make a difference.

"She would like to roll out Rethink to schools in the community and across the country," Prabhu said. "Rethink will be a great help for all the kids in schools to stop the hurting and stop the hurtful messages from even getting out there on the Internet."

Trisha is working within the Google Chrome browser first, but she plans to create a version of Rethink for other browsers and smartphone operating systems.

"I'm not interested in making money off this or turning it into something that would benefit myself," Trisha said. "You don't have to pay to feel safe on the Internet, and that's how it should be."

During the White House Science Fair, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, a Naperville Democrat, said he discussed the technical and social aspects of Rethink with Trisha. Technically, he advised her to move the system to the cloud, so it can store a growing database of potentially offensive phrases that should trigger the pop-up message without slowing down users' devices. Socially, he said he's impressed with the work she's doing on a pervasive issue.

"Cyberbullying is very important, and with the level of connectivity of young kids, she's chosen just the right place to attack it," Foster said. "It's wonderful to see how caring she is about the damage this does."

Trisha's mother said her daughter got a "prominent spot" in the White House for her science fair display, where Trisha made presentations to Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. In a group of 36 exhibitors, she met President Barack Obama and took a picture with him.

Trisha said she aspires to win election to public office someday, so there was something deeply moving about being in the White House. Foster said Trisha didn't mention her political aspirations, but she has his support as soon as she decides to run.

"I'm ready to endorse her the moment she does," Foster said.

Trisha Prabhu, 14, of Naperville, gets a visit from Bill Nye the Science Guy at her booth last Monday at the White House Science Fair in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Bhanu Prabhu
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster stops by the White House Science Fair booth of Trisha Prabhu, 14, of Naperville, who was there to display her software program that attempts to end cyberbullying by prompting users to reconsider before posting potentially offensive content on social media. Courtesy of congressman Bill Foster
  Fourteen-year-old Trisha Prabhu of Naperville has spoken internationally and appeared at the White House Science Fair with information about her efforts to prevent cyberbullying. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Rethink, 14-year-old Naperville resident Trisha Prabhu's software program designed to help stop cyberbullying, won her a spot as a global finalist in the Google Science Fair last fall. Since then, she has spoken internationally about the project and appeared at the White House Science Fair. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
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