TIME and TIME for Kids Name the 2025 Kid of the Year: 17-Year-Old Digital Defender Tejasvi Manoj

Today, TIME and TIME for Kids reveal the 2025 Kid of the Year, recognizing one exceptional young person making the world a brighter place.   This year’s recipient is 17-year-old digital defender Tejasvi Manoj from Frisco, Texas. She is recognized for her service work teaching digital literacy to protect seniors from cybercrime. Manoj tells TIME: “I started volunteering in sixth grade…I think it’s really important; if you’re lucky yourself, you want to make sure other people feel loved and lucky too. It just makes me feel really happy, knowing that I can make a difference.” –Read the cover story and watch the interview with 2025 Kid of the Year Tejasvi Manoj: here –See the TIME cover, featuring a photograph by Zerb Mellish for TIME: here  Of the 2025 choice, TIME’s Jeffrey Kluger writes: “The unnamed cyber criminals trying to scam seniors out of their money got more than they bargained for when they targeted Tejasvi Manoj’s grandfather back in February, 2024…Tejasvi, then a 16-year-old junior…began researching how common such scams—especially ones targeting older Americans—are. Very common, it turns out…Within the year she had built and launched Shield Seniors, a website and, soon, mobile app, designed to educate the 60-plus demographic about what online scams look like, analyze suspicious emails and messages users upload, and, if the communications prove fraudulent, provide links to report them.” “At TIME, we regularly profile world leaders and next-generation changemakers. Kid of the Year elevates the very youngest, recognizing their accomplishments as they chart a course toward a brighter future,” said TIME for Kids Editor-in-Chief Andrea Delbanco. “We’re giving kids a platform, and watching them use it to inspire other young people to follow in their footsteps.” To select the 2025 Kid of the Year, TIME editors and writers conducted research to identify stand-out kids in the U.S. ages 8-17. For the first-time, TIME also evaluated submissions to the TIME for Kids Service Stars program, which honors young leaders who are making the world a brighter place. Service Stars, developed in partnership with The Allstate Foundation, supports all young people to serve and improve communities and shines a light on kids who are positively impacting others. The 2025 TIME Kid of the Year is made possible by exclusive partner The Allstate Foundation, a nonprofit that is committed to empowering youth ages 5 to 25 to serve and improve communities. The 2025 Kid of the Year is available on time.com now and will appear in the September 29 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, September 19. It will also be featured in the TIME for Kids Service Stars special issue, in classrooms and online at timeforkids.com starting September 25. ###