What a 12-year-old can teach us about empathy and kindness
Twelve-year-old Daisy Hampton鈥檚 mission is to forge friendships with peers who have disabilities and help close the digital access gap for kids who face income inequality.聽Episode 5 of the "People Making a Difference"聽podcast.
At age 11, when Daisy Hampton saw school friends with disabilities being bullied, she took action. Daisy and her mom, Jennifer, founded Including You, an organization set up for kids to mentor other kids who experience learning or physical disabilities.聽
While Daisy鈥檚 project has grown to match dozens of mentors and mentees in six states, in 2020 her efforts took off in a new direction: closing the digital access gap for schoolchildren. Daisy has now given out more than 500 laptops or MiFi devices to kids who lack internet access. Her organization is built on kindness, and champions digital inclusion and educational equity.
鈥淚 believe that kindness is contagious,鈥� Daisy says. 鈥淲hen I started Including You, I wasn鈥檛 sure any of my friends would want to help me 鈥� but they really did want to help and they were so excited to join me.鈥�
You might have seen the聽Monitor story about Daisy Hampton聽on Jan. 20, 2021. We wanted to check in with her again, and take you a little deeper with an audio interview.
Episode transcript
[Music]
Dave Scott: That鈥檚 Daisy Hampton. She鈥檚 12 years old and founder of 鈥淚ncluding You,鈥� an organization founded to help kids with learning or developmental disabilities.
Welcome to People Making a Difference. A podcast about people who are, step-by-step, making a better world.
I鈥檓 Dave Scott.
Daisy Hampton and her mom, Jennifer, founded 鈥淚ncluding You鈥� about a year and a half ago, and they have two key programs. The first involves kids mentoring other kids who鈥檝e experienced learning or physical disabilities. The second is helping to close the digital gap for school kids by providing laptops and tablets. They鈥檝e created an organization, mostly with child volunteers, built on kindness, and that champions digital inclusion and educational equity.
Welcome, Daisy!
Dave Scott: Daisy, I understand that part of what motivated you to start your organization was having been involved in what鈥檚 known as ICT classes 鈥� from kindergarten through fifth grade. Right?
Dave Scott: So I.C.T. stands for Integrated Co-Teaching classes. And those are classes that are taught by a general education teacher and a special ed teacher, and they include students both with and without disabilities. So how did that influence you?
Dave Scott: That鈥檚 awful. So how did that make you feel.
Dave Scott: Initially, Daisy and her mom set up a program, during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, to match kids with other kids, to act as mentors. Daisy recruited her classmates and members of her Girl Scout troop, and Daisy started mentoring online an 11-year-old girl in Mississippi. She also mentors Laura, who lives near Daisy in New York City.
Dave Scott: And how long have you been mentoring her? Tell me what鈥檚 a typical mentoring session?
Dave Scott: That鈥檚 great. So I guess what strikes me as interesting, Daisy, is that Including You is unusual because it鈥檚 for kids and it鈥檚 by kids. Why does that appeal to you? Why do you think that it appeals to other kids?
Dave Scott: While Daisy鈥檚 project has grown to matching dozens of mentors and mentees in six states, in the fall of 2020 her efforts took off in a new direction: Helping kids with remote learning challenges, closer to home. Daisy saw a news story about a nine-year-old girl in the Bronx who needed a laptop to attend classes online, and [who] was at risk of becoming truant. Daisy used a $200 award she earned from Girl Scouts to buy the girl a laptop. The publicity from that act of kindness drew thousands of dollars in donations. Daisy has now given out more than 500 laptops or tablets. I asked her how that鈥檚 making a difference in individual lives. And she told me this story.
Dave Scott: Of course, Daisy hasn鈥檛 done all of this on her own. Her mom, Jennifer, has been her partner. And I asked Jennifer about the division of labor between them.
Dave Scott: It鈥檚 really impressive what you鈥檝e accomplished, but Jennifer, how do you and Daisy handle the balance between school and Girl Scouts and running a nonprofit?
Dave Scott: At this point, Daisy rejoins the conversation. Hey, Daisy I just have a few more questions. So when there鈥檚 a kid at your school that struggles to communicate with another kid who鈥檚 been labeled as having a disability, what advice would you give them?
Dave Scott: Where does your sense of empathy and generosity come from? What motivates you to help others?
Dave Scott: OK Daisy, I have one more question for you. How has working on this nonprofit changed you? Think about Daisy before and Daisy now. What鈥檚 changed?
Dave Scott: And Jennifer, what changes have you seen in your daughter.
Dave Scott: At the end of each podcast, I鈥檝e been issuing a challenge to listeners to take action. So I asked Daisy what challenge she would give the listeners of this podcast.
[Music]
Dave Scott: And that鈥檚 this week鈥檚 challenge: An act of kindness. Call me and tell me how it went. Call me at (617) 450-2410 and leave me a voice message about it. That鈥檚 (617) 450-2410.聽
What impressed me about Daisy was her willingness to tap into her desire to help others and聽 to use that to override her fears. At her age, I would have been paralyzed with anxiety. She stepped out of her comfort zone to talk to the media, to speak in front of her classmates and win support for her efforts. That takes a special kind of courage.
Daisy and her mom have recently been contacted by a girl鈥檚 school in Africa. So in the coming months, among other things, they plan to work together to launch a new mentorship program in Africa.
To learn more about Daisy鈥檚 efforts, go to .
You鈥檝e been listening to 鈥淧eople Making a Difference,鈥� a podcast about people who are, step-by-step, making a better world.
Copyright 海角大神, 2021.聽
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