Many children in their school years can feel excluded or isolated from their peers. Faced with this situation, they do not know very well how to act, becoming even more closed in on themselves.
A third grader from an American school named Sammie Vance, seeing many times how some of her classmates were alone at recess, had a great solution to end that feeling of loneliness in them.
The “bank of friends”
Little Sammie drew on a piece of paper a little cartoon about loneliness and exclusion. In the story she imagined, what she called a “bank of friends” , her explanation was as follows:
“If someone is alone or if they are new to school and have no one to play with, they can sit on the bench,” the 9-year-old explained. “If other people see it at the bench, they will come up to them and ask them to play together.”
This idea shocked the teachers and they wanted to make it come true but, as their school had a very limited budget to buy them, Sammie and her mother thought that with the help of recycling they could get recycled benches at a good price.
With the help of their colleagues, they collected a large number of plastic bottles and caps, being able to carry out the three benches to place them in their patio in record time.
Seeing the benches, Sammie’s companions were excited, always being very attentive when they see a companion sitting on it to ask him to get up and play with them.
Much more than a bank
This fantastic idea not only works for children who feel lonely or sad, it is also useful to find new friends when they start the school year, or to play with other children when their usual companions are not around.
In addition, it can be an alternative for children to express any type of concern to other classmates so that they can be helped, for example, in cases of bullying, promoting companionship and integrity.
