LACC ‘CyberCode Twins’ Take Top Children’s Health Prize at Hack for LA

LACC students and twins Penelope and America Lopez don’t just love coding and programming because they love the challenge of creating technology — they have also made it their goal to use technology to improve their communities.

At the recent Hack for LA Hack-a-thon, on June 6 and 7, the self-proclaimed CyberCode Twins competed with over 500 other hackers and were awarded the top prize in the Children’s Health category for developing an anti-bullying app.

According to a mission statement written by America, Penelope, and their team, 100,000 kids around the country miss school every day because they are afraid of being bullied. And only 30% of students bullied report it to adults out of fear that reporting could make the bullying worse and lead to more embarrassment, without actually solving the problem.

The app, named ExBully, allows bullying victims to call or text for help if they are in immediate danger from bullying, but the app isn’t just for the victims. The bully can also be identified through the app and assessed for mental health services. The school administration can then match the immediacy of their response based on the threat presented. The app can also act as a data collection service to schools, which they can then use to strengthen their student safety policies.

Penelope and America hope that ExBully will help to “break the cycle of silence” and help improve the lives of bullying victims throughout the country.

This isn’t the first time the twins have used their skills to help solve societal issues. This past January, Penelope and America took first place at the Women in Tech Challenge at the 2015 Developer Summit and Hack-a-thon in Las Vegas. They created a “Body Camera Hack”, which acted as a wearable camera with face-tracking technology to be worn by law enforcement during shifts. The camera can also be worn by journalists and researchers to make recording information and on-the-scene stories easier.

The twins recently talked to Pasadena Star News about their win at Hack for LA. When asked what their aspirations were, America said, “Our bigger goal is to make our community safer with wearable tech and apps.”

Penelope added, “Technology is going to invade everything.”

Congrats again to these inspiring students!