NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A 14-year-old Naperville teen has developed a computer program to help work against cyberbullying.
Trisha Prabhu’s efforts began as a class project but quickly expanded and got the attention of science and technology experts from around the country, the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported (http://bit.ly/ZlrAM1) Sunday.
Prabhu, who said she was cyberbullied when she was younger, said she’s mostly finished with coding for the program that gives pop-up warnings to Internet users when someone attempts to post a potentially harmful or offensive message on social media sites. She says she “knew she had to do something to stop” the problem.
Prabhu is scheduled to present the add-on program at the Google Science Fair in California later this month where judges could award her a grand prize of $50,000 in scholarship money and a 10-day trip to the Galápagos Islands.
She said she has future plans to develop versions of the program for other Internet browsers and smartphone systems.
