How Little People can make a BIG Difference
The TED talk we watched was called “How little people can make a big difference” spoken about by Charlie Cooper, a nine year old boy who suffers from a lack of confidence. He describes his shy nature, an introvert to his classmates. Charlie elaborates on his experience of lack of friendships, resulting in feelings of isolation. At a young age, his teacher notices signs of poor classwork and lack of courage to get involved in group activities. After getting his eyes tested, he discovers he is severely long sighted. This results in him receiving a new pair of glasses to advance on his learning, however seen this as an opportunity to exclude Charlie because of his appearance. Despite the circumstances, he never gave up and continued to fight the everyday feeling of exclusion and loneliness.
While on holiday in America, he comes across an article which inspires him with an idea to create friendship and eliminate people feeling alone in various situations, “A Buddy Bench”. He puts himself forward and contacts the local wood supplier, who supplies him with all the equipment free of charge when he hears Charlie’s idea. He then proceeds to the next step by going to the Men’s Shed who with full support, offer to build this bench for free. This has made a big impact on making pupils lives easier by making them feel included. The idea behind the bench is that, if you feel companionless or excluded, you sit on the bench. Other pupils recognise this and offer to walk and talk or invite them to join in on a group activity. This taught us to speak out and act on our problems which surround us on a daily basis, ones we don’t always acknowledge.
By Clara O’Keeffe and Chloë Warren