Endorsement: A teen's brilliant answer to cyberbullying
As suburban schools work to define cyberbullying as part of a new state law, at least one student is doing her part to combat the troubling trend. And in doing so, it also highlights the reason many local school districts are working to get female and minority students interested in science, technology, engineering and math careers (STEM).
As Daily Herald staff writer Marie Wilson wrote in Tuesday's Daily Herald, 14-year-old Trisha Prabhu, a Neuqua Valley High School student from Naperville, is deservedly getting national and international recognition for a computer program she developed to combat cyberbullying.
Her story is inspiring on many levels. Having learned that an 11-year-old girl killed herself as a result of cyberbullying, Trisha, in eighth grade at the time, went to work to find a long-term answer to help solve this decidedly 21st century issue. And by going right to the source, she may have found a way help slow instances of cyberbullying.
Her program, Rethink, makes the cyberbully pause, with a pop-up box that asks the computer user to reconsider offensive language recognized by the program before the message is sent.
Her research showed that 93 percent of teens who encountered the box decided against actually sending the comments.
She was a global finalist in last year's Google Science Fair and just last week, she participated in the White House Science Fair, where President Barack Obama announced more than $240 million was being pledged from the private sector to encourage youth — especially girls just like Trisha — to stay involved and take part in STEM opportunities.
Despite all the attention, Trisha remains devoted to seeing this project become a reality because of her concern about the issue.
“I'm working so hard to stop cyberbullying but it's still a daily reality,” she told Wilson. “It's hard to accept that it won't disappear right away.”
“Cyberbullying is very important and with the level of connectivity of young kids, she's chosen just the right place to attack it,” said Congressman Bill Foster, a Naperville Democrat. “It's wonderful to see how caring she is about the damage this does.”
Her efforts are right in line with those of school districts throughout the state who are rewriting policies in advance of an April 15 deadline imposed in a new state law we support that calls on districts to make clear that cyberbullying of students will be dealt with by the school no matter where the bullying takes place.
It's no wonder her program has captured attention across the world. Her goal is simple and should be embraced by all: “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.”