A recent image of a schoolboy and a pensioner has taken the internet by storm for one very heartwarming reason.
The young child, who’s not been named, was on his way home from school when Emma Cope, from Kingstanding, West Midlands, snapped the picture of him performing an incredibly kind gesture.
The schoolboy had come across an elderly man who was using a crutch and carrying a full shopping bag. Despite having a backpack of his own, the youngster asked if he could help the man with his items.
The pensioner agreed and let the young boy take the packed bag off his hands.
Witnessing the selfless act, Emma captured the moment on camera and shared it on Facebook, where she addressed the boy’s parents and said they should be proud of their son.
Explaining the situation, the 28-year-old wrote:
As I was getting out my car today in kingstanding, I heard this little boy say to this old man, can I help you carry your bag, to the man’s delight he said oh yes please.. [sic]
The post continued:
the old man walked slow and the little boy walked beside him and carried his bag!! [sic]
The parents of this young man should be so proud as you have obviously brought up a polite and caring young lad! [sic]
Please share this to show that kindness is still out there!! [sic]
Emma’s tale of the young boy and the old man was met with a lot of praise and has since been shared over 26, 000 times, at the time of writing.
Many people were moved by the image and posted their positive comments about the selfless act.
One person who shared the post wrote:
Honestly to read this and know somewhere out there, there are parents teaching their children (in my eye and own opinion) the correct way to treat elderly people and how to respect them honestly melts my heart!! [sic]
Only wish more parents would teach their children this rather than them mess around and disrespect their elders!! [sic]
Another commented:
Argh, what a pleasure to see this! Well done young man x [sic]
While a third added:
Well done son you are very good keep up the good work you’ll go far [sic]
Other people praised Emma for capturing the lovely moment and sharing it with the world.
There seems to be a lot of people who are doubtful about the younger generation and are in desperate need of the ‘hope’ they found in the image.
One commenter wrote:
Found this quite emotional, as we only ever hear about the bad things that young people do! Gives me hope, well done.x [sic]
A second despairing person added:
And you are such a nice person to make everybody feel some hope for our kids in the future. To make us see this gesture. Thanks. Very nice of you. [sic]
And a third wrote:
I’m pleased to see there is still some good youngsters in this country xx [sic]
This is certainly evidence of how a small gesture can go a long way!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.