A teenager typed an insult on their phone and prepared to publish it. Before hitting send, the screen would ask if they were sure they wanted to say that to the other person. Trisha Mahajan was just 13 years old when she developed a mobile keyword that identified offensive messages before posting. Today, she has taken her dream further creating a non-profit organisation against cyberbullying and receiving support from across the globe.The story was reported by The Harvard Crimson, a student-run newspaper at Harvard University. For the teenager, it all stemmed from a personal experience. She had already faced cyberbullying when she learned about the case of Rebecca Sedwick, a student who died by suicide after enduring relentless virtual attacks. Sedwick was just a year younger than Prabhu and the close age made her realise the urgency of the issue. “I remember reading that story and thinking something’s wrong here,” Prabhu said. “Something is very wrong with our internet, with what it’s become, and what we are sending young people into when they get a phone.”At the time, most common methods of prevention stemmed from the victim. For instance, blocking the attacker or reporting to an adult or authority. But Prabhu decided to flip the question and asked if one could reach the attacker before the harm was caused. The idea gave rise to ReThink, essentially asking the person to rethink.
ReThink?
When it identifies a potentially offensive phrase, the system presents an alert and encourages the user to reconsider what they wrote before sending or publishing it.
ReThink functions as a keyboard installed on the phone. When it identifies a potentially offensive phrase, the system presents an alert and encourages the user to reconsider what they wrote before sending or publishing it. The app does not mandatorily block the message or take away the user’s final decision. It merely interrupts the automatic gesture for a few moments. The person can still return to the text, delete the offence, or proceed with the publication. The choice and its reminder are the basis of the project’s logic. It treats the message as a decision that can still be corrected and offers an immediate opportunity to avoid regret.The initial experiment compared teenagers’ reactions to aggressive messages with and without the alert. Without the pause, 71% showed willingness to send the content. But after the alert, only 4% maintained that decision. The concept grew out of Prabhu’s original research, work that made her a 2013 Google Science Fair finalist at the age of 13. The Harvard Crimson, a student newspaper at Harvard University, reported that young people stopped sending an offensive message in over 93% of instances when prompted to reconsider. On October 29, 2020, the app had already amassed over 500,000 downloads. The organisation had also worked with 5 million students, spread across more than 1,500 schools in 134 countries.She was invited to the White House, gave a TED Talk in India and received $100,000 in funding from Shark Tank investors. In October 2020, she received the Elevate prize, a $300,000 award to put toward ReThink. The competition chose ten winners overall from a pool of about 1,300 applicants who use their organisations to promote positive social change.
What does Trisha Prabhu do now?
At 24, Prabhu still remains the Inventor, founder, and CEO of ReThink.
At 24, Prabhu still remains the Inventor, founder, and CEO of ReThink. Since graduating from high school in 2018, she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Doctor of Law from Yale Law School. This is in addition to degrees in Master of Science and Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford and a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.In 2023, she started ReThink Citizens, a non-profit movement that tackles cyberbullying, promotes digital wellness, and empowers youth to build a kinder, more inclusive internet. She currently works as the Founder, President & CEO of the organisation. The same year the movement received a $50,000 grant from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Foundation through the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund. The couple also video-called the founder to congratulate her and publicly champion the organisation’s work.Prabhu also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors at the non-profit organisation Carson J. Bride Effect that protects kids from the changing world of technology. She shines as an example of just how much change a single motivated person can make for a cause if they put all their effort and heart into it.
