I am so excited to tell you about my newest hero, Christian Bucks. Christian is a second-grader at Roundtown Elementary School in York, Pennsylvania. This sensitive youngster noticed that there were kids at his school that where experiencing playground loneliness. Despite being surrounded by kids there are some children who find themselves with no one to play with. Christian not only noticed the problem, but he approached Principal Matthew Miller with a simple and wonderfully adorable solution: a buddy bench!
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Bucks came up with the idea of having a buddy bench at his school because he had seen one in a brochure for a German school. The idea is that if any student is feeling lonely during recess, they go and sit at the buddy bench and someone will see them there, approach them and ask them to play. Christian says, "We show we care about others when we ask others to play. I also hope that new friendships will be made because of the buddy bench." I love this kid.
His idea and execution of the idea really touches me because I am a parent of a child that suffers from playground loneliness. My little girl is too shy to approach other kids and she spends her time during recess just willing the minutes to pass by as quickly as possible. It makes my heart ache. I'm so touched by this idea that I'm hoping we can do something similar at my daughter's school.
Image via YDR
