MENASHA, WI (WTAQ – WLUK) – A local leadership program has joined forces with the Menasha School District to address bullying.
The project is called “Be a Buddy, not a Bully.”
Participants of Leadership Fox Cities raised funds to install designated safe areas, called “Buddy Benches.”
The benches were placed on five elementary school playgrounds.
The program was launched at Jefferson Elementary Monday.
Sara Marquardt, of Leadership Fox Cities, tells WLUK children can sit on a “Buddy Bench” during recess when they feel lonely or bullied, signaling classmates to ask them to play.
“We found through the United Ways Lifestyle project that the Fox Cities area actually has a higher percentage of bullying than the state or national average. Our hopes were to kind of break the cycle of this bullying, starting in the elementary schools”
Throughout the rest of the week, the program will be introduced at the other four schools.
