Best Buddies Commitment

  • Best Buddies Commitment

    As a Peer Buddy you are going to have lots of FUN, but you also have a responsibility to your new Buddy. It is important that you keep up your contact with your Buddy in order to create the most meaningful friendship you can.

    A Peer Buddy agrees to:

    Contact your Buddy once a week!

    • The more you contact your Buddy, the more comfortable the two of you will be together and the better your friendship will be.
    • While talking on the phone or writing notes with friends may be an everyday activity for you, your Buddy may not have ever received a phone call or a note from a friend and having that experience would really brighten their day

    How can I do this?

    • Call your Buddy at home
    • Say “hi” to your Buddy during school
    • Write your Buddy a note/letter/card and deliver it to his/her
    • classroom
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    • Sit together at an assembly or at lunch
    • Spend one-to-one time together TWICE per month!
    • Hanging out in person one-to-one is the best way to build a friendship, share stories, share laughs and have fun!

    What can we do together?

    • Attend one of your chapter’s activities together – it’s easy and fun!
    • Eat lunch together at school
    • Walk to the buses together
    • Invite your Buddy to play at your house – have dinner, watch movies, go for a walk, etc.
    • Go to the movies
    • Go to the mall
    • Go to a sports game or school play at your school
    • Join a sports team together
    • Stay after school to play on the playground

    The possibilities for what you can do together are endless, but make sure you ask your parents and your Buddy’s parents for help.

    REMEMBER: You have made a commitment to another person. Your Buddy experiences excitement and happiness, but also disappointment and hurt feelings, just like you do. Sticking with your commitment and helping others in your chapter to do the same is the very important.

    It is OK if it is hard at first!

    Making a new friend can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a little scary. Just because you are matched with someone doesn’t automatically make them your friend. Friendships take time to develop. You and your Buddy have been matched together because you share common interests, so try to learn about the interests that you share!

    Don’t be sad if it takes time and effort for you and your Buddy to feel comfortable together. That is a normal part of building friendships. Remember that you can ask your Advisors for help!

    Also, the more time you spend contacting your Buddy, the more comfortable you two will be with each other, so keep up with your contacting your Buddy weekly and seeing her/him twice a month!

    Why one-to-one? Can I share my Buddy?

    It is much easier to get to know someone if you take the time to focus on that one person. It is important to match one-to-one because when people are in a group it is easier for someone to be left out and nobody likes to be left out.

    If you want to really get to know someone, you have got to take the time to focus on that individual and to share some of yourself. One-to-one matching makes it possible to have the best, highest quality, longest lasting friendships.

    Your Buddy spends a lot of time in big groups, but very little time in a one-to-one friendship.

    That is why time spent with you will be even more special when it is just the two of you. It shows your Buddy that you really care about him/her and gives the two of you a chance to share memories, stories, and laughter that are special and unique to your friendship.

    Of course it is a great idea to introduce your Buddy to your friends and to help them get to know other people, too! It is most important that your Buddy knows she/he can rely on you to keep up the once a week contact and twice a month in-person commitment because you are their Best Buddy!