Commitment Statement

As agents of change, it is important that we understand why our children need to develop a healthy appreciation of their identities, and the particular difficulties in achieving this when dealing with families whose structure, language, origin and skin colour are subject to prejudice.

P.R.I.D.E helps like a techer to create a positive sense of identity for the development of self-esteem, confidence, self-love and pride in our children. children who feel worthy and capable are more likely to be optimistic and successful in school.

A positive sense of identity helps children to be more open with people from other backgrounds, as they are more likely to be less afraid of differences in culture and skin color. A strong, positive feeling about their parents and grandparents helps students feel secure and confident in themselves and their roots.

 It is expected that through this project, we will help create a sense of group identity as well as a personal identity, as this helps the child to have a feeling of acceptance. Group identity can come from whatever the child's family considers important in defining who "is like us." When children belong to a minority group, it is important to create a strong and positive group identity to provide them with the moral support to overcome the prejudices and stereotypes they will face on a daily basis.

"Boys and girls learn to know themselves in relation to the opportunities and limitations of their social world. Race and color, in particular, remain unavoidable issues in the formation of identity" (Frazier, 1941)

As children learn about differences between colors and shapes, they also begin to categorize people. Children between 3 and 4 years old talk about physical differences in skin colors, hair textures, and eye shapes. They also notice differences in language, family structure, and behavior. By the time they are in the early grades, children have begun to consciously understand racial differences (Goodman, 1964).

The success of this project depends on how students learn to appreciate differences, that is, it depends on the social meaning that teachers help them create for these differences. Teach them that differences in skin color or hair texture are simply human variation, and that teachers are attentive and responsive to the different emotions of children of color can serve as role models for other children to know that their peers have the same feelings and emotions as they do.

As children grow older, they become more aware of how other people perceive them. Children who regularly see people who look like them in important and powerful positions gain confidence and self-assurance. But children who are continually bombarded by images that portray people from their same background in a negative or inferior way begin to dislike who they are. (Derman-Sparks and ABC Task Force).

Together with parents, we will work to help children understand that it is okay to have differences, finding a way to link rules and positive attitudes and counteracting discriminatory messages. Through a pedagogy of respect and acceptance of differences in skin color and nationality, and creating a bond of self-confidence and pride in each African-American student.