Finding a buddy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/06/2022 (1463 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WAVERLEY HEIGHTS

When the bench is empty everyone has a friend. If it’s full, there’s still work to be done.

On June 20, Chancellor School (1520 Chancellor Dr.) unveiled its new buddy bench, or friendship bench, as part of the Winnipeg Police Association’s Cool 2Be Kind Campaign. The bench, brightly coloured in shades of blue, purple and green, was chosen to reflect the school’s colours.

The idea is simple: when a child feels lonely, they can sit on the buddy bench. This signals to other kids they are feeling isolated, and the hope is another child will invite them to play.

“We have kindergarten to Grade 6, and I wanted a place where everybody could sit and feel like it’s their seat,” said Chancellor School guidance counsellor Heather McDevitt. “I thought it was the perfect strategy for elementary schools. It’s hard to navigate the social scene, and with COVID it was a little more restrictive. We’re opening up again, and if there’s 450 kids on the field how are they supposed to find a friend?”

The buddy bench was first conceived of and created by students in Germany. Soon after, kids across North America began advocating to have the bench installed at their own school.

“The kids, as a school, were taught how to invite someone to play,” McDevitt said. “We’ve been practicing what words they can use and what the responsibility of the person sitting on the bench is. Recess can be the best time but it can also be the toughest time.”

Pembina Trails School Division students and staff welcomed the buddy bench to their playground in a ceremony with members of the Winnipeg Police Association, Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) and Indigenous elder Byron Beardy, who blessed the bench with a smudge and performed a song.

”Sage is used as a blessing to clear and purify,” Beardy explained to the crowd. “We’re told it cleanses yourself and inner being. We want this chair to help everyone who comes and sits on it.”

“Kindness starts very young, and it’s cool to be kind,” Winnipeg Police Association president Moe Sabourin added. “When you’re kind to each other, others are kind to each other.”

The Cool 2Be Kind campaign helps to teach students in kindergarten to Grade 8 the importance of being kind to others and making positive choices in school and life. Students and educators submit a kindness project proposal on behalf of their school, and successful projects receive $500 to bring their project to fruition.

Over the past nine years, the Cool 2Be Kind campaign has funded 223 school kindness projects totalling $111,500 as of September 2021.

For more information about the Winnipeg Police Association’s Cool 2Be Kind campaign, visit www.winnipegpoliceassociation.ca/cool-2be-kind