BOY’S BUDDY BENCH IDEA CAUGHT ON
Playground concept helps kids create friendships all around the world
Each week, this series will introduce you to an exceptional American who unites, rather than divides, our communities. To read more about the American profiled here and more average Americans doing exceptional things, visit onenation.usatoday.com.
What does it mean to you to be an American?
To me, being an American means being proud of your country, standing up for what you believe in and treating others the way you want to be treated.
What moment touched and motivated you?
I was motivated to launch the Buddy Bench when I started thinking about how hard and sad it must be if you were lonely at recess. Recess is a time to play and have fun with friends. I didn’t want anyone to feel lonely or left out. My teachers and principal thought it was a good idea.
What gives you hope?
What gives me hope is that so many people — kids and adults — have wanted to put Buddy Benches at schools all around the world. This makes me think that people really want to help each other and make friends. We thought it would just be at our school. It was a shock when it started spreading to more and more schools. I got to go to Hawaii to put in a Buddy Bench. That was an incredible trip. I just like how the idea has spread. (When the playground at Sandy Hook Elementary School, site of the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, shootings, was renovated in 2016, the school installed a Buddy Bench.) I noticed a big difference with it around. I’ve seen a lot of new friendships being made. I love seeing people not being lonely and disappointed at recess.
What do you hope to accomplish through your efforts?
What I hope to accomplish is for all schools to have Buddy Benches and that through the Buddy Bench, kids will learn to always be kind and include one another, even as they get older. To me, it was more about making new friends than bullying, but (combating) bullying did go along with it.