22/09/19 19:26
I came across an article a while ago about an item called a buddy bench. The concept is quite simple. The buddy bench is in a park or playground. It works this way.
If there is a child that needs a friend; perhaps because they are new to the school, they want to try and play with other people, their friends are not at school that day, or even if their friends are playing something they don't want to participate in they sit on the buddy bench and wait for someone else to come and ask them to play. The responsibility of the rest of the class or kids on the playground is to look over at the buddy bench every so often and see if anyone is sitting there. If there is someone there, they should go over and invite them to play. No one should ever be excluded.
What a wonderful idea to not only make sure that all children are included but also to teach others to look out for those who are in need of a friend. Many of us as we go through school certainly had times when we might have been the one left out. And, I am sure many of us have had the experience of knowing that someone needed a friend, but not having the courage to ask if they wanted to hang out.
It is simply a reminder that all of us need to be included and loved and cared for. It also means that we must constantly look out for those who might be struggling. Let's keep that idea of the buddy bench in mind as we seek to love others in our lives.