“Buddy Benches” continue to benefit lonely and bullied students across the nation

Recess can be a very scary and intimidating experience for many children, whose shyness or feelings of being outcast can cause them to miss out on a lot of fun activities and the chance to make new friends.

Whether you are a child or even an adult, sometimes finding someone to hang out with can be difficult. Anyone who has ever silently and watched as others around them are having fun, understand this frustrating situation, which can lead to sadness, feelings of depression and a sense of always being on the outside, looking in.

Seeing this problem, many local school districts and schools across the nation and beyond have responded and begun to implement a relatively new program using “Buddy Benches,” specifically intended for use by children who cannot otherwise find a friend to play with.

The buddy bench is a simple concept intended to eliminate schoolyard loneliness and foster friendship and a better sense of inclusion for students on the playground. The idea has also proven very effect in combating bullying at many schools, according to the schools that have implemented the idea.

Although their designs and colors are different from school to school, their intended purpose is the always same: to help kids form friendships and to feel more included.

One such school, Willowgrove School in Saskatoon, Canada just installed one of the new benches on their playground. With the newly installed Buddy Bench, kids who find themselves without a friend to play with simply have to sit on the bench when they would like to be invited to play with others.

The kids at Willowgrove have fully embraced the Buddy Bench concept and really seem to love the idea, as it is a very subtle way for them to let other kids know they need a friend.

7-year-old Matthew Henkelman, who was recently interviewed by CBCNews admitted he had used the Buddy Bench before, when he was not able to find a friend to play with. Henkleman said it only took about “a minute” before other children asked him to join them on the playground.

One such program has been implemented at Bautista Creek Elementary School. At Bautista, three Buddy Benches have been installed at the school, in east Hemet. When a student has nobody to play with they just sit on the bench and others are encouraged ask that child to join them on the playground.

The three Buddy Benches are located in different areas and are available for kindergarten, lower grade and upper grade students. Fifth-grade students from the school helped paint the benches under the supervision of counselor Tom Kachaenchai, after they won a school-sponsored design competition.

The decorating contest was open to all fifth-graders and there were more than 70 entries, according to Kachaenchai. “The kids love them,” Kachaenchai said in a previous interview with Press Enterprise. “Once they sit on the bench they feel appreciated.”

The school’s PTA purchased the benches – which can cost between $400 and $800 – as well as the paint needed to personalize the benches for the individual schools. Some schools have enlisted the help of parents and local businesses to either sponsor or build their own benches, to save money.

As more schools throughout Riverside County consider Buddy Benches as a means of improving their student’s scholastic experience, funding has proven to be a formidable obstacle, causing many school’s efforts to install the benches to stall or be postponed until funding can be allocated.

Despite the financial obstacle, the affect on students can be overwhelmingly positive and the benches, along with other anti-bullying programs, have been credited with improving behavior on many campuses throughout the nation.

“As a kid, it would have been an amazing idea,” Kaitlyn Bradshaw, 25, and a mother of an 18-month-old child, recently said. “I recall several days in grade school where I would lean up against a fence and look at all the kids with their friends that they had known for years and built special bonds with. As a child who moved a lot, I didn’t always get the same opportunity to make friends as easily.”

“Having a spot where I could have gone and found someone to build that relationship and bond with would have been an amazing, door-opening opportunity,” Kaitlyn continued. “I hope more schools will take on this fantastic idea and make it a way to build kids’ confidence and make them feel they are not alone.”

 

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