0:00:07.911,0:00:10.936
"Girl, kill yourself."

0:00:15.283,0:00:18.107
"Why are you still alive?"

0:00:19.426,0:00:23.018
"You are so ugly."

0:00:27.770,0:00:29.614
Rebecca Sedwick,

0:00:29.614,0:00:32.326
an eleven-year-old girl from Florida,

0:00:32.326,0:00:36.595
received those mean, hurtful,

0:00:36.595,0:00:42.111
tormenting and embarrassing messages[br]on her social media.

0:00:42.881,0:00:44.890
They would ultimately lead her

0:00:44.890,0:00:47.790
to jump off of her town's water tower

0:00:47.790,0:00:49.899
to her death.

0:00:52.174,0:00:54.576
In the fall of 2013,

0:00:54.576,0:00:58.237
I would come home from school[br]to read that story.

0:00:58.237,0:01:01.362
I was stunned, shocked,

0:01:01.362,0:01:04.253
and I was heart-broken.

0:01:04.253,0:01:06.653
How could a girl younger than myself

0:01:06.653,0:01:10.106
be pushed to take her own life?

0:01:10.106,0:01:12.372
That's when I knew I had to do something

0:01:12.372,0:01:15.207
to stop this from ever happening again.

0:01:15.207,0:01:18.518
But the pain and the misery[br]that Rebecca endured

0:01:18.518,0:01:20.544
had already happened.

0:01:20.544,0:01:23.885
The damage was done.

0:01:23.885,0:01:25.578
My name is Trisha Prabhu,

0:01:25.578,0:01:27.125
I'm fourteen years old,

0:01:27.125,0:01:29.139
and I'm from the great city of Naperville,

0:01:29.139,0:01:31.349
in Illionois, in the United States.

0:01:31.349,0:01:33.779
I'm passionate to stop cyberbullying

0:01:33.779,0:01:37.567
at the source, before the damage is done.

0:01:37.567,0:01:40.430
I'm a big dreamer,[br]and I believe that everyone

0:01:40.430,0:01:43.796
should have the right to dream,[br]persist in their dream,

0:01:43.796,0:01:47.690
and see that become a reality.

0:01:47.690,0:01:49.904
So, when I read Rebecca's story,

0:01:49.904,0:01:51.601
I immediately wondered,

0:01:51.601,0:01:53.834
"Were there any others like her out there,

0:01:53.834,0:01:56.105
that were suffering as well?"

0:01:56.105,0:02:01.220
I'd soon learn that she was one[br]of a countless many.

0:02:02.280,0:02:07.572
Megan Meier died three weeks[br]before her fourteenth birthday.

0:02:08.652,0:02:12.634
She hung herself in her bedroom closet

0:02:12.634,0:02:14.282
where her mother would find her

0:02:14.282,0:02:17.089
when coming up to get her for dinner.

0:02:18.639,0:02:20.401
She'd received messages like,

0:02:20.401,0:02:23.312
"The world would be[br]a better place without you",

0:02:23.312,0:02:25.675
on her Myspace account.

0:02:26.665,0:02:28.436
The damage was done,

0:02:28.436,0:02:31.649
and Megan suffered the consequences.

0:02:32.499,0:02:36.303
Tyler Clementi[br]was an eighteen-year-old student

0:02:36.303,0:02:38.851
at Rutgers University.

0:02:38.851,0:02:41.359
He was just getting used to college life

0:02:41.359,0:02:43.802
and his new gay identity.

0:02:44.482,0:02:47.204
One day, his roommate and a friend

0:02:47.204,0:02:50.009
decided to use a webcam and a laptop

0:02:50.009,0:02:54.747
to stream some of Tyler's most[br]intimate moments with his boyfriend

0:02:54.747,0:02:57.068
all over social media.

0:02:57.678,0:03:00.454
The damage was done.

0:03:01.074,0:03:04.186
Humiliated, Tyler took his life,

0:03:04.186,0:03:07.416
jumping off of the[br]George Washington bridge.

0:03:08.896,0:03:11.694
I wish more than anything

0:03:11.694,0:03:14.087
that I could rewrite those stories.

0:03:14.087,0:03:17.114
I wish I could make every perpetrator

0:03:17.114,0:03:19.799
rethink what they did.

0:03:19.799,0:03:22.113
But what if I could do that?

0:03:22.113,0:03:26.587
What if I could stop the damage[br]before it was done?

0:03:26.587,0:03:31.211
Would Megan, Tyler and Rebecca[br]still be alive today?

0:03:31.211,0:03:34.870
Cyberbullying is a huge problem.

0:03:34.870,0:03:38.350
52% of adolescents[br]in the United States alone

0:03:38.350,0:03:40.516
have been cyberbullied.

0:03:40.516,0:03:42.683
And 38% of them

0:03:42.683,0:03:45.388
suffered suicidal tendencies.

0:03:45.388,0:03:48.084
Let's look at it [br]from a global perspective.

0:03:48.084,0:03:52.409
A quarter of the world's population[br]are adolescents.

0:03:52.409,0:03:55.575
We're talking 1.8 billion teens.

0:03:55.575,0:03:58.372
Imagine that[br]in the social media revolution;

0:03:58.372,0:04:01.379
how more and more of them[br]are getting on social media,

0:04:01.379,0:04:05.021
and more and more of them[br]are being cyberbullied.

0:04:06.901,0:04:09.505
So, why do you get cyberbullied?

0:04:09.505,0:04:11.656
Look, I might be biased,[br]but I'm pretty sure

0:04:11.656,0:04:15.553
that kids are not mean devils[br]that run around with cruel intentions.

0:04:15.553,0:04:18.114
I don't know about you,[br]but that's what I think.

0:04:18.114,0:04:22.091
And what about adults?[br]Are they nice or mean on social media?

0:04:22.091,0:04:24.674
Now, when it comes to adults,[br]I wasn't really sure.

0:04:24.674,0:04:28.055
So, I had to do some research[br]to figure that out.

0:04:28.055,0:04:31.233
So, that year,[br]for my science experiment at school,

0:04:31.233,0:04:34.398
I decided to look at how age[br]affected the willingness

0:04:34.398,0:04:37.725
to post offensive messages[br]on social media sites.

0:04:37.725,0:04:39.018
What did I find?

0:04:39.018,0:04:42.466
This younger age group,[br]ages twelve to eighteen,

0:04:42.466,0:04:46.203
was 40% more willing[br]to post an offensive message

0:04:46.203,0:04:47.721
than an older age group.

0:04:47.721,0:04:50.572
OK. The number didn't surprise me.

0:04:50.572,0:04:52.147
But why?

0:04:52.147,0:04:53.905
Why was that younger age group

0:04:53.905,0:04:57.469
so much more willing[br]to post an offensive message?

0:04:57.469,0:05:00.560
I started to do a lot of research,

0:05:00.560,0:05:03.411
and, one day, I came across an article,

0:05:03.411,0:05:06.456
and it had one sentence[br]that would forever change

0:05:06.456,0:05:09.351
my view on this problem.

0:05:09.351,0:05:12.218
They said, "The adolescent brain

0:05:12.218,0:05:16.094
is likened to a car with no breaks."

0:05:16.094,0:05:18.655
High speed. No pausing.

0:05:18.655,0:05:21.749
No thinking. No considering.

0:05:21.749,0:05:25.136
We just act. So why is it like that?

0:05:25.136,0:05:27.172
Our brains are kind of weird.

0:05:27.172,0:05:29.784
They develop from the back to the front,

0:05:29.784,0:05:31.895
which means[br]that our front part of the brain

0:05:31.895,0:05:35.552
is not fully developed until age 25.

0:05:36.712,0:05:38.972
Why is that a problem?

0:05:38.972,0:05:41.581
Well, prefrontal cortex

0:05:41.581,0:05:44.208
controls decision-making skills,

0:05:44.208,0:05:46.225
rash, impulsive decisions,

0:05:46.225,0:05:48.989
spur-of-the-moment feelings.

0:05:48.989,0:05:52.620
So, that's why adolescents[br]don't think before they act.

0:05:52.620,0:05:55.123
They just go ahead and do something,

0:05:55.123,0:05:58.306
whether it's downing[br]fifteen Red Bulls on a dare,

0:05:58.306,0:06:00.783
skipping an English final,

0:06:00.783,0:06:02.667
doing something crazy.

0:06:02.667,0:06:05.991
We don't really think before we do it.

0:06:06.631,0:06:09.873
Well, then I was[br]venting about this to a friend.

0:06:09.873,0:06:13.411
I was like, "Gosh, you know,[br]this is horrible."

0:06:13.411,0:06:16.597
And she said, "You know, Trisha,[br]I really admire your passion,

0:06:16.597,0:06:19.422
but you've been talking about this[br]for the last 15 minutes,

0:06:19.422,0:06:21.261
as if you had just discovered it.

0:06:21.261,0:06:23.522
It's a huge problem,[br]but social media sites

0:06:23.522,0:06:25.992
are already doing stuff to stop this."

0:06:25.992,0:06:28.620
And I went, "Oh, yeah. You're right."

0:06:28.620,0:06:32.355
But I'd soon find that[br]what social media sites are doing

0:06:32.355,0:06:34.540
is really nothing.

0:06:34.540,0:06:38.284
Their mechanism[br]is a "stop, block, tell" method.

0:06:38.284,0:06:41.411
You stop what you're doing,[br]through the victim,

0:06:41.411,0:06:43.000
you block the cyberbully

0:06:43.000,0:06:45.377
and you immediately[br]go tell a parent or guardian.

0:06:45.377,0:06:47.072
It sounds pretty reasonable.

0:06:47.072,0:06:49.549
But here's what actually happens:

0:06:49.549,0:06:52.532
adolescents, we're kind of afraid[br]to tell people

0:06:52.532,0:06:54.387
that we're being cyberbullied.

0:06:54.387,0:06:57.094
Research shows that nine out of ten times

0:06:57.094,0:07:00.476
victims don't tell anyone[br]that they're being cyberbullied.

0:07:00.476,0:07:02.810
What's more,[br]why are we putting the burden

0:07:02.810,0:07:05.863
on the victim to block the cyberbully?

0:07:05.863,0:07:10.353
Why aren't we changing the behavior[br]in the actual cyberbully?

0:07:10.353,0:07:12.076
And it angered me.

0:07:12.076,0:07:15.389
There wasn't a single effective way[br]to stop cyberbullying,

0:07:15.389,0:07:17.350
and it was a silent pandemic

0:07:17.350,0:07:20.722
that was affecting[br]so many people around the world.

0:07:21.422,0:07:22.951
That's when I had an idea.

0:07:22.951,0:07:26.781
I know from my research[br]that adolescents don't think

0:07:27.541,0:07:29.835
before they do things, right?

0:07:29.835,0:07:34.338
So, what if they didn't think[br]before they type?

0:07:34.338,0:07:36.116
What if I gave them a chance

0:07:36.116,0:07:38.973
to think about what they were doing?

0:07:38.973,0:07:42.903
If an adolescent tried to post[br]an offensive message on social media,

0:07:42.903,0:07:46.226
if I went, "Whoa! Hold on.

0:07:46.226,0:07:49.649
You're about to post[br]an offensive message to someone.

0:07:49.649,0:07:51.785
That can really hurt them.

0:07:51.785,0:07:54.802
Are you sure you want[br]to post this message?",

0:07:54.802,0:07:57.254
would they still be as willing to do it?

0:07:57.254,0:08:00.376
I had no idea, [br]but I was ready to find out.

0:08:01.216,0:08:04.909
So that year, using my science[br]and technology skills,

0:08:04.909,0:08:07.109
I created two software systems.

0:08:07.109,0:08:09.926
And basically, they were able to compare

0:08:09.926,0:08:12.802
whether an alert that prompted adolescents

0:08:12.802,0:08:15.017
to think about what they were doing

0:08:15.017,0:08:18.884
actually decreased their willingness[br]to post offensive messages.

0:08:18.884,0:08:22.733
So, for four to six weeks,[br]I basically lived at my local library.

0:08:22.733,0:08:25.156
All the kids were always[br]giving me weird looks,

0:08:25.156,0:08:28.370
but, you know, in the end,[br]it was totally worth it.

0:08:28.370,0:08:32.869
I was able to get[br]1,500 valid trials of data.

0:08:32.869,0:08:35.214
And what did I find?

0:08:35.214,0:08:40.781
93% of the time when adolescents[br]receive an alert that says,

0:08:40.781,0:08:44.285
"Whoa! You're about[br]to post an offensive message",

0:08:44.285,0:08:47.070
they changed their mind.

0:08:47.070,0:08:51.058
I was able to decrease the willingness[br]to post offensive messages

0:08:51.058,0:08:56.858
from 71.4% to 4.6%.

0:08:56.858,0:09:00.469
(Cheers) (Applause)

0:09:04.771,0:09:06.361
Think about that.

0:09:06.361,0:09:10.162
My research proved[br]that rethink before you type,

0:09:10.162,0:09:12.371
rethink before you post,

0:09:12.371,0:09:15.244
rethink before the damage is done

0:09:15.244,0:09:19.096
is an effective long-term method[br]to stop cyberbullying,

0:09:19.096,0:09:22.046
at the source, before the damage is done.

0:09:22.046,0:09:26.491
So Rethink has become[br]insanely popular -- I'm glad to say.

0:09:26.491,0:09:29.579
Just a few weeks ago,[br]I was at the Google Science Fair

0:09:29.579,0:09:32.188
for my research. I'm a global finalist.

0:09:32.188,0:09:33.766
And I also currently --

0:09:33.766,0:09:35.079
(Applause)

0:09:35.079,0:09:36.408
Thank you.

0:09:36.408,0:09:38.329
(Applause)

0:09:39.960,0:09:44.492
And I also currently hold a United States[br]provisional patent for this idea.

0:09:44.492,0:09:46.210
So now, my main goal

0:09:46.210,0:09:48.295
is getting this out there as a product,

0:09:48.295,0:09:50.220
and stopping cyberbullying.

0:09:50.220,0:09:52.361
I'm currently working tirelessly

0:09:52.361,0:09:54.551
to create a Chrome extension browser

0:09:54.551,0:09:56.962
and a mobile add-on for mobile platforms.

0:09:56.962,0:09:59.039
That way, Rethink can go global

0:09:59.039,0:10:02.694
and stop cyberbullying[br]before the damage is done.

0:10:04.224,0:10:07.411
Steve Jobs once said,

0:10:07.411,0:10:10.938
"Simple can be harder than complex.

0:10:10.938,0:10:14.466
Original, much harder than derived.

0:10:14.466,0:10:17.143
But when you get there, it's worth it,

0:10:17.143,0:10:19.640
because you can move mountains."

0:10:19.640,0:10:21.581
He is so right.

0:10:22.521,0:10:25.951
Rethink has proven that,[br]in those few seconds,

0:10:25.951,0:10:29.421
when you decide whether or not[br]you're going to hit "post",

0:10:29.421,0:10:34.479
those few seconds[br]mean so much in the future.

0:10:34.479,0:10:37.161
So, whether you're about to post[br]an offensive message

0:10:37.161,0:10:41.064
about the fat girl that sits[br]ahead of you in your class,

0:10:41.064,0:10:43.424
or your annoying boss,

0:10:43.424,0:10:46.030
that can mean the fat girl's life,

0:10:46.030,0:10:48.516
or your job.

0:10:48.516,0:10:50.908
So, I encourage all of you:

0:10:50.908,0:10:54.879
rethink before the damage is done.

0:10:54.879,0:10:57.495
Very rarely in this connected world

0:10:57.495,0:11:00.332
do we remember, we need to slow down,

0:11:00.332,0:11:04.017
pause, think about what we're doing.

0:11:04.017,0:11:05.966
We're posting a message

0:11:05.966,0:11:08.374
and that has significance.

0:11:09.174,0:11:11.088
So, choose to rethink.

0:11:11.088,0:11:12.682
Rethink before you type,

0:11:12.682,0:11:14.736
before the damage is done.

0:11:14.736,0:11:16.151
Thank you.

0:11:16.151,0:11:19.751
(Cheers) (Applause)