'Friendship bench' aims to stop bullying at Windsor school

In an effort to stamp out bullying, a "friendship bench" has been installed at St. Angela Catholic Elementary School in Windsor.

A friendship bench is placed in schools and communities for children who may not have the voice to speak up if they are being bullied.

Sitting on the bench sends a message to teachers and other students that they need help.

Students at Villanova worked with Kill It With Kindness, a federal not-for-profit anti-bullying agency, and raised $1,500 to build and deliver the bench to St. Angela.

The bench will officially be unveiled April 20 at 12:30 p.m.

Similar benches have been installed at an elementary school in Saskatchewan and Carleton University in Ottawa.

Saskatoon's Willowgrove School installed a "buddy bench" last year.

When students don't have anyone to play with, they go to the buddy bench.

The rules surrounding the green bench, located next to the school's playground, are pretty simple. Within a few minutes, any student sitting on the bench will be approached by a fellow student and asked to play.

The "friendship bench" at Carelton is a mental health initiative created in memory of Lucas Fiorella, a 19-year-old who took his own life last year.

The idea is for students who are suffering from depression, or not, to take a seat and have someone stop by, just to talk about mental health issues.

When the bench was unveiled in September, Fiorella's friends wore shirts that simply said, "Say Hello. What's the worst that can happen?"