'Buddy Benches' encourage elementary school students to make friends


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SPRINGVILLE — As the oldest of four children, Katie Blades is almost like a second mother to her three younger brothers and sisters.

"I really love all my siblings, and he's like the baby of the family," said Katie.

That baby of the family is 7-year-old Tanner. He suffers from severe social anxiety. For him, going to school and making friends on the playground doesn't come easy.

"I asked him, 'who do you play with?'," Nichole Blades, Tanner's mom said. "He said, 'I don't play with anyone' and he pointed over to a shed where he sits by himself waiting for the bell to ring."

"I could imagine him sitting there and all these kids not asking him to play, and it made me really sad," Katie said.

She wanted to help.

"We saw this thing on the Internet and it was this Buddy Bench thing," Katie said. "If you don't have anyone to play with and feel lonely or sad, you just go and sit on the bench."

It's a place for children to sit and signal, "I'd like to make friends." It's not a new idea, these benches can be already found in some schools around Utah. However, Tanner's school doesn't have one. She started babysitting to raise money for the project.

Her mom explained what her daughter was doing on social media.

> This is my daughter Katie Blades she is in need of your help with an exciting project she is working on. Please go visit and share. :) > > Posted by [Nichole Bronson Blades](https://www.facebook.com/nichole.blades) on [Tuesday, October 6, 2015](https://www.facebook.com/nichole.blades/posts/10206513456189270)

"It was like 3 in the morning and my mom ran and told me a guy she used to know in high school emailed her," Katie said.

That old friend from high school is Mike Petersen, the owner of Critical-Laser, a manufacturing company in Lindon, Utah.

"I just felt like my kids could be feeling the same," Petersen said. "This could affect anybody's young kids at school at that age. It's just an easier way to make friends."


I just felt like my kids could be feeling the same. This could affect anybody's young kids at school at that age. It's just an easier way to make friends.

–Mike Petersen, Critical-Laser


He offered to donate his time and materials to make the bench a reality. Soon there will not only be one bench on Tanner's playground, but two. They both will bear an inscription Katie came up with. A sentiment she hopes will catch on.

"Be a friend, make a friend," Katie said.

The idea of these Buddy Benches is spreading. Katie says she's been contacted by people at other schools in the district hoping to do something similar. She's started a GoFundMe* page to try and raise as much money as possible so other schools will get benches too.

*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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Ashley Kewish

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