Emojis: Boy starts petition to change glasses emoji

Video caption, 'Nerd' emoji: Why Teddy is fighting back against the image

Emojis are a great way to add personality to a text message, but one boy from Oxfordshire thinks there's one that needs to be changed.

Ten-year-old Teddy has started a petition (which is a written request signed by lots of people) asking tech company Apple to remove the "nerd glasses" emoji from its keyboard.

He first noticed the emoji when texting his cousin, and went on to kickstart the campaign with the help of his teacher.

Apple has been approached for comment.

Teddy says he thinks the smiley face with big front teeth misrepresents people who wear glasses, and has told the 91热爆 that it makes him very upset.

"Apple are making it absolutely horrible for people wearing glasses," he said.

Teddy added: "They're making people think we're nerds and it's absolutely horrible.

Image source, Emojipedia

Image caption, All nerd emojis on different platforms have glasses

"It's making me feel sad and upset, and if I find it offensive, there'll be thousands of people around the world that find it offensive too."

Teddy suggested a redesign that replaces the toothy grin with a smaller smile.

Image caption, Teddy says he wants wearing glasses to be perceived as a "positive, not a negative" thing

He also wants to give it a new name - instead of the commonly used "nerd emoji", he wants it to be called the "genius emoji".

"It's got thin lenses and thin frames... and then it's got a little smiley face instead of the horrible rabbit teeth," he explained.

"I like wearing glasses because they make me see a lot better, and they look good and stylish."

Great glasses

Teddy's not the only one who wants more and better glasses representation in the emoji library.

Image caption, Lowri said wearing glasses was a part of who she is

Lowri also wears specs, and wrote to Disney when she was nine years old asking for a princess who wears them too.

Her dream came true when Encanto was released, in which the main character Mirabel wears a pair of round frames.

After that, she turned her attention to emojis.

Video caption, Why Lowri wants more emojis with glasses

She also thought the nerd emoji gave a negative impression of people wearing glasses, and so campaigned to get more of the other emojis like the smiley and angry faces wearing glasses.

Let us know what you think of the glasses emoji in the comments.