When cybercriminals came after her grandfather, Frisco teen Tejasvi Manoj didn’t just fight back — she turned the experience into a mission to protect seniors everywhere. That drive has now earned the 17-year-old the title of TIME’s2025 Kid of the Year for her work teaching digital literacy and shielding older adults from online scams.
The incident was a wake-up call. Seeing how easily scammers could exploit her grandfather’s limited familiarity with the internet left Manoj determined to take action, not just for him, but for countless others in similar positions.
Inspired By Family, Built For All
After that close call in early 2024, the Lebanon Trail High School student delved into research and quickly discovered that older Americans are some of the most frequent targets of digital scams. By year’s end, she launched Shield Seniors, a website and soon-to-be mobile app that helps the 60-plus community spot scam tactics, analyze suspicious messages and connect to official reporting resources when fraud is confirmed.
How Kid Of The Year Is Selected
Each year, TIME editors and writers search nationwide for standout kids between ages 8 and 17. For the first time in 2025, the publication also considered submissions from its TIME for Kids Service Stars program, which highlights young leaders improving their communities.
The honor is supported by The Allstate Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth ages 5 to 25 to lead through service…