Stereotypes as seen through the eyes of Regina teens

REGINA – Dropout, thief and vandal are just a few of the stereotypes Scott Collegiate students believe are given to them.

However, thanks to a new school project, the teens are getting a chance to share who they really are.

Blake Sabit thinks people look at him and assume he’s going to drop out of school, but that’s far from the truth.

“I like school a lot, and it kind of hurt me to have people think that I would be a dropout.”

Judgments like that also hurt his teacher, Carmen Danyluk.

“It makes me sad to think that this is their reality,” she said.

Using an electronic book, the group is using art to highlight just how wrong stereotypes can be.

“If they thought that, I would like to talk to them and tell them I like school, and show them my grades,” Sabit said.

He thinks people assume bad things about him because of the people he hangs out with and where he lives.

His classmates believe people have them pegged as trouble makers or drug dealers.

“There’s a lot of crime, gang affiliated crimes in this area and a lot of robberies at nearby stores,” but Sabit said he’s not involved in that. He’s trying to be a role model for his younger siblings.

“I want to be the first one in my family to graduate.”

The students received positive feedback from people across Canada, and even the United States.

Sabit used to let the stereotypes get him down – not anymore. “Now I know what I am and what I’ve become, so I don’t let it bother me as much.”

That confidence is exactly what his teacher hoped to bring out.

Danyluk also wanted others to read the book and open their minds, “I hope that people take a second look at others when they’re walking down the street.”

As for Sabit, he hopes people look at him in a more positive light. “I want them to see me as a graduate, a son, a brother.”

Who I am on the Inside was inspired by the work of Winnipeg artist, K.C. Adams.