Bespectacled boy, 10, starts petition calling for Apple to change its ‘horrible’, stereotypical nerd emoji

From the cute eggplant to the friendly smiley face, emojis are now an essential part of many of our daily conversations.

But one boy claims urgent changes are needed to one of the most popular emojis – ‘nerd’.

Teddy Cottle, 10, from Oxfordshire, has launched a petition calling on Apple to change its “offensive and insulting” character.

He claims that protruding front teeth give the wrong impression to glasses wearers, and suggests that a smile would be more appropriate.

He added: “It makes me feel sad and upset, and if I find it offensive, there will be thousands of people around the world who find it offensive as well.”

Teddy claims that protruding front teeth give the wrong impression to glasses wearers, and suggests that a smile would be more appropriate

Peppard’s Teddy says emojis give the wrong impression about people who wear glasses.

The bespectacled schoolboy created his own version of the emoji, replacing the toothy smiley with a small smiley.

“We want to change this,” he said. “Apple makes it absolutely terrible for people who wear glasses.”

“They make people think we’re obsessed and that’s absolutely terrible.”

He calls his version the Genius Emoji, and he hopes Apple will switch to it.

“It’s thin lenses, thin frames, and a little smiley face instead of those horrible rabbit teeth,” he said.

“I like wearing glasses because they make me see much better, and they look good and stylish.”

Teddy sprang into action when he saw the offensive emoji while texting his cousin, and shared his anger with his school’s French teacher, Lisa Bailey.

Madam Bailey helped him start the petition, first at school, then online.

“I love Teddy’s inquisitive mind and the fact that he fights for what he believes in,” she said.

“He is vocal about this but in a very mature way, and I think he should be supported, encouraged and praised as well.”

“We believe the nerd emoji is offensive and insulting to all people in the world who wear glasses,” he wrote in the petition.

The bespectacled schoolboy created his own version of the emoji, replacing the toothy smiley with a small smiley

“It’s thin lenses, thin frames, and a little smiley face instead of those horrible rabbit teeth,” he said.

“We think people who wear glasses are cool, and we’re worried that people who wear glasses for the first time will think they look like rabbits or mice.

“We ask you to change the name of the emoji to Genius Emoji and change the design.”

Teddy says it would be “amazing” if Apple took up his idea, adding that he would be “really excited.”

His mother, Esme, wasn’t completely surprised when she heard about his election campaign.

“He’s always been that way, really interested in learning, and watches a lot of documentaries,” she said.

“My husband mentioned that Teddy was following the Prime Minister’s questions.

“He is very interested in news and current events and has a thirst for knowledge and wants to learn how to understand things.

I think it’s amazing. He always has very strong opinions about things and I think fighting for what you believe in should be encouraged because we tend to lose that as adults.

MailOnline has contacted Apple for comment.

“We believe the nerd emoji is offensive and insulting to all people in the world who wear glasses,” he wrote in the petition.