Buddy bench installed at Charlottetown elementary school

Students at Spring Park elementary have a new way to reach out to one another and make new friends. A buddy bench was unveiled at a school assembly this afternoon.

It's a place for kids to go when they need to talk, or don't have anyone to play with. The idea is that if you see someone sitting there, it's clear they are looking for a friend.

'It was such a cool idea'

"It was such a cool idea we knew we had to do something like that at Spring Park," said Laura Sinclair Bevan, who is with the Spring Park Home and School Association, the group that came up with the idea to install a Buddy Bench at the school.

Sinclair Bevan said the goal is to help teach kids to be caring and compassionate, by recognizing when one of their peers needs a friend. She said several other schools around the country are already using buddy benches, and students have been receptive to the concept.

"Everyone supported the idea and I think every parent is happy that this is coming to the school."

For students, it's a way to tell whether someone would like some company, or would prefer to be left alone.

A way to tell when someone needs a friend

"If someone is alone and you don't have a buddy bench and they are walking around, you don't know if they want to be alone or need a friend," said Grade 6 student Sydney Blanchard-Gaudet.

"If they sit on the buddy bench someone can come up and say, 'Hi, do you want to play with me?'"

Her friend, Katie Lougheed Bambrickthinks kids will use the bench, andhopes having it there will help remove barriers between students who don't know each other very well.

"I always think I'm pretty shy, don't think I could go over there and say hi," said Lougheed Bambrick. "Now that there's a buddy bench it'll be easier, because now there's actually a way to do that."

The school plans to install the bench in the coming days.

Members of the Spring Park Home and School Association say that due to the size of the school yard, a second bench may be added later, if the first one proves popular with students.

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