‘Buddy benches’ installed at Yocum Elementary and Primary schools

For a child with no one to play with, a school playground can be a lonely place. Kids with an established group of friends may not think to seek out those who feel excluded.

Yocum Elementary School is tackling this issue with four new “buddy benches” that will be placed at Yocum Primary and Yocum Elementary schools.

“The buddy bench is a simple idea to eliminate loneliness and foster friendship and include kindness,” said Michelle Henry, Yocum Elementary School Principal. “We just don’t ever want a child to feel left out and so when they feel like they don’t have somebody to play with, they can go sit on a buddy bench and then somebody will come sit by them.”

The idea was brought up when the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) decided they wanted to do something

for the school. Erin Awtry, a parent of a child at Yocum, built the benches for the school. They were delivered and placed at the school last weekend.

In 2013, now 12-yearold Christian Buck, feeling the need for more kindness at his elementary school, encouraged

his school to install a buddy bench.

Since then, buddy benches are becoming more popular across the world.

To be effective, the buddy benches must be clearly marked and set apart from other benches. The four buddy benches at Yocum Elementary and Primary are bright and colorful and say “buddy bench” in big letters.

Henry said they are

working on putting an assembly together to talk about the buddy benches and educate the students on their purpose.

She said the teachers will also talk to their students about them during “social skills time” and make sure they are used properly.

Kaitlyn Rigdon/News-Times Buddy bench: From left, Carolina Sneed, Annalee Ibert, Brayden Minor and Jalea Strickland sit on the new “buddy bench” located at Yocum Primary School. The buddy bench is a simple idea to eliminate loneliness and foster friendship and include kindness...

Kaitlyn Rigdon/News-Times Building kindness: From left, Pierce Willett, Addison Bridges and Samantha Awtry. Awtry’s mother, Erin Awtry, built the buddy benches for Yocum Elementary School and Yocum Primary School.