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MURRAY — For students at a pair of Utah elementary schools, being "benched" can be a good thing.
At the suggest of sixth-grader Jaxton Winrow, Grant Elementary School this week installed a "buddy bench" next to the playground.
The idea is to create a place where kids who are feeling lonely and don't have anyone to play with can sit to signal other students' attention. Students can then reach out to kids on the bench and invite them to play, Grant Elementary Principal Matt Nelson said.
Jaxton said he initially wanted to create a club for lonely students, but then he saw the idea for the buddy bench online.
"I don't want everyone to be alone," he said, "because I don't want them to feel bored and not do anything at recess all the time and have no friends. Now, if people get kicked out of a group or club, they can sit on the bench and the other people who get kicked out of a group can sit there, too, so they can become new friends."
Lowe's gave the school a discount on a prefabricated park bench, and school funds were used to buy paint for the exterior.
Jaxton and the buddy bench committee he initiated designed the blue bench, complete with paw-print embellishments.
"I want all of these kids to feel like they are a part of groups, and they can have fun at our school and help stop bullying," he said.
Jaxton and his committee stood by the bench Wednesday afternoon and invited students to sign posters as a pledge that they would be a friend to those who sit on the bench.
Sage Creek Elementary School in Springville will also dedicate buddy benches in the near future.
When 7-year-old Tanner Blades told his mother that he didn't play with anyone at recess but instead sat by a shed and waited for the bell to ring, his older sister, Katie, decided to confront the problem.
Katie Blades made a GoFundMe* page to raise money to make a buddy bench to help her brother, who suffers from extreme social anxiety.
"I could imagine him sitting there and all these kids not asking him to play, and it made me really sad," said Katie, 14. "I, myself, have suffered from anxiety and know how scary it can be to make friends."
Mother Nichole Blades posted Katie's initiative on Facebook, and an old friend from high school, Mike Petersen, contacted her, offering his time and materials for the project.
"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. (The bench) is just an easier way to make friends."
Petersen, who owns Lindon manufacturing company Critical Laser, has started work on the two buddy benches that will be installed in Tanner's school.
Katie raised $1,480 on her GoFundMe page, almost tripling her initial donation goal.
"Now we can put more benches in more schools," she said.
Contributing: Ashley Kewish
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'Buddy Benches' encourage elementary school students to make friends
"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."*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.- - - - - -
Tori Jorgensen is a Deseret News intern and current communications major at Southern Utah University. Find her on Twitter @TORIAjorgensen. Email: vjorgensen@deseretnews.com.
