It’s time for school recess. Students run from the elementary school building to go to the playground. Some days, there’s perhaps a child who lingers inside a little longer than the rest, and by the time he or she gets to the playground, friends and classmates are already engaged and playing games together. So how does this child who’s now on the outside break in?

It’s to address this question—and the feeling of isolation children sometimes have at recess—that Goodwin Elementary School administration and staff introduced the new Buddy Bench program.

“Every year we are mandated to do a school climate survey. It goes out to all students, parents, and staff,” said Goodwin Elementary School Principal Heston Sutman. “For the past two years, we have gotten feedback from parents and kids about feeling left out. When asked where they feel left out, the biggest area was at recess.”

Sutman and the school’s staff decided to try to find a program to address the issue. Investigating various options, they discovered a tested concept called Buddy Benches already introduced at elementary schools around the country.

Each Buddy Bench is supposed to be a special place where a student goes to sit when they feel left out of outside play or don’t have anyone right then to play with.

“Each playground has a Buddy Bench. All students have been trained that when they see someone sitting there, they have a responsibility to invite that student to participate in an activity,” Sutman said. “We’re teaching students to have an awareness and empathy to help others.”

The benches were introduced in fall 2016 when they appeared unannounced in the school lobby. Their appearance there sparked student questions: What were the Buddy Benches for and why were they there?

Soon after that, the program was introduced to teachers and students through a Buddy Bench training program.

“Students were trained by seeing videos from other schools around the U.S. where their students spoke about and introduced the Buddy Bench program. Kids teaching kids gets them engaged,” said Sutman.

What the program teaches is that before a student sits on the Buddy Bench, they need to think of something they would like to do. Then when someone approaches, the student can ask them to play with them. Students who see someone sitting on the bench are asked to approach and start by saying “Hello,” and if they don’t know the person, to introduce themselves. After the introductions, the approaching student asks the seated student to come play or to join in an activity they can do together.

The program training also teaches that those sitting on the bench should play with the first classmate who invites them to play. The program training stresses that the bench is not to be used for socializing—students only should sit there if they can’t find anyone to play with.

At Goodwin Elementary School, it was a generous bequest the school district received from Jodi Endrich that funded the purchase of the Buddy Benches. Each bench cost $450. The benches were installed next to the school’s playgrounds by late November, so the program has been in effect for about three months.

So how’s it working?

Two Goodwin School 3rd-grade students, Maggie Stanley and Alexander Strausser, when asked, offered their observations of the bench program so far.

“The students liked how they could meet and get to know new friends,” said Stanley. “My friend used it once.”

Strausser also said that his friends say to go to the bench when they don’t know what to do on the playground.

“I watched kids walk over to students [on the bench] and ask them to join an activity. Students don’t sit there very long,” said Strausser.

Strausser also said that the Buddy Bench training was important: “That way we know how to use [the bench] and we don’t use it wrong.”

Both students suggested that the Buddy Bench can help students new to the school meet new friends, but they have also observed occasional student behaviors that go against the Buddy Bench program’s rules and expectations. Stanley said she once saw kids climbing all over the bench, disrespecting its purpose. And she once saw a child sit on the bench who wasn’t approached by other children asking them to join in. So as with all new programs, to succeed, its goals and purpose must be reinforced throughout the year.

Goodwin School Kindergarten Teacher Marsha Rosenthal said of the Buddy Bench program, “The program goes along with our character and our desire to have kids solve their own problems. It has also generated real conversations about friendship.”

Sutman also hopes that through this Buddy Bench system, students will learn skills that are transferable to other parts of their lives.