Viral Photo Shows 8-Year-Old Boy Holding Hand Of Autistic Classmate Who Was Crying On The First Day Of School

A second grade student’s act of kindness for a distressed classmate is gaining some viral attention this week.

A photo caught the moment that the 8-year-old Kansas boy held the hand of an autistic classmate who was overwhelmed and crying on their first day of school. As The New York Post reported, the image was captured by mom Courtney Coko Moore of Wichita, who was grabbing some images of her son Christian as he arrived at school. She ended up capturing the moment that Christian held hands with another second grade boy, Connor, who was distressed at the first day of school.

In the caption that accompanied the picture, Courtney explained that her son saw his classmate having a difficult time and wanted to console him.

“I’m so proud of my son, he [saw] a kid balled up into a corner crying, so he went to console him, grabbed his hand and walked him inside of the school!” she wrote in the Facebook post. “It is an honor to raise such a loving, compassionate child! He’s a kid with a big heart, the first day of school started off right.”

As KWCH-12 reported, the post also caught the attention of Connor’s mother, April Crites, who explained that it was a little more than first-day jitters that her son was suffering. She wrote that her son is autistic, and she was scared about him being able to fit in with his classmates. The picture of Christian comforting her son ended up comforting April’s own fears.

Christian, an 8-year-old student in Wichita, Kansas, saw another boy, Connor, in a corner, crying, so he decided to go hold his hand and help him walk into the school. Connor is autistic, and his mom was beyond happy when she saw this picture. https://t.co/sqLQ0QHBAQ

— KCRG-TV9 (@KCRG) August 27, 2019

April shared that school can be difficult for her son, and she was afraid that the second grader could be bullied. The post of Christian holding his hand gave her hope for a good school year, she said.

“I worry every day that he is going to get bullied for being different and your son just absolutely warmed my heart. If there were more children like him I wouldn’t worry about such things,” Crites wrote.

Moore shared that her own son struggles with his speech, and she hoped that the two boys could become friends this school year.

The original Facebook photo was shared more than 26,000 times, and the image has now spread across social media and garnered coverage from a number of national news outlets. Many commended the young boy on his act of kindness, an example of the good that takes place inside schools when news often focuses on bullying or violence happening there.