The purpose of the Buddy Bench is as a tool to help school kids who are lonely and want to make friends. We all know that the schoolyard can be a tough place, and that kids sometimes forget to think about other kids, and how they are feeling. The Buddy Bench is a place for kids to sit, and send out a visual signal to other kids that they would like friendship, or somebody to play with. This visual signal makes children concious of this, and is usually enough to prompt them to extend a hand.