Tejasvi Manoj, a 17-year-old Indian-American teenager, has been named TIME's Kid of the Year 2025. She has made a significant impact with her innovative project, Shield Seniors, which is aimed at protecting senior citizens from online scams and cyber fraud, according to TIME.
Who is Tejasvi Manoj?
Manoj was born in California and raised in Dallas, Texas, and both are software engineers who immigrated from India.
She's an Eagle Scout, violinist in her school orchestra, and volunteers with organisations like Vibha and the North Texas Food Bank Young Advocates Council.
As per the report, she plans to major in Computer Science with a focus on AI or Cybersecurity.
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How did she come up with Shield Seniors?
Her journey began when her grandfather almost fell victim to an online scam. The scammer posed as a relative and asked for money, calling it an emergency.
"Tejasvi was surprised that there was such a lack of awareness among her grandparents," says Aishwarya Manoj, her mother. "It was like, Why did you not know? That's when she went on with her research and found out that it was not an isolated case with her grandparents, but a much larger problem."
Scammers often target the elderly as most of them are naive to the techniques favoured by the con artists. As per the report, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 860,000 reports of scams, with potential losses exceeding $16 billion in 2024. Out of the total, acts of fraud targeting people over the age of 60 accounted for nearly $5 billion. There was a increase of 32% increase over the previous year.
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Tejasvi was recognised with an honourable mention in the 2024 Congressional App Challenge; delivered a 2025 TEDx talk in Plano, Texas, about the need to build "digital bridges" to all demographics; and makes occasional appearances at local assisted-living facilities, demonstrating her website and teaching seminars about cybercrime.
"I remember going to my first seminar, and I was super nervous," said Tejasvi as quoted by TIME. "What if no one shows up? What if I totally mess up?"
"There were so many people who were really interested-taking notes on their notepads, which was really nice. At the end, some of them came up to me with questions, and I was able to help them."
What Is Shield Seniors?
Shield Seniors educates senior citizens about online scams, analyses suspicious messages and provides reporting links. It provides AI-powered analysis, a chatbot for simple answers and resources for reporting scams. Manoj wants to empower seniors to navigate the digital world confidently and safely.
Her work highlights the importance of digital literacy, especially for vulnerable populations like senior citizens.
