'The Beautiful Project': Stonepark students spread message of self love

Two Grade 9 students at Stonepark Intermediate School are spreading a message of positivity and self love with a video in which they tell students they are beautiful.

Kenzie Whalen and Phoebe Schneider created The Beautiful Projectvideo after seeing similar videos online. Whalen and Schneider interviewed fellow students, and told each of them that they are beautiful, and captured their reactions.

"A lot of people were really surprised, like they just didn't expect that," said Whalen.

"There were some people who said. 'Thank you,' some others that had some nervous laughs."

Spreading a positive message

Whalen and Schneider also asked each person they interviewed if they thought they were beautiful, if they thought there were certain expectations for beauty, and if they thought people should tell each other they are beautiful more often.

They said one thing they noticed was a difference in the responses of girls and boys.

"Whenever we told girls they were beautiful and asked them if they thought they were beautiful, a lot of them said that they didn't, and they had a long list of expectations of what they think beauty is," said Whalen.

She said with many of the boys they interviewed, "the reaction was quite drastically different. A lot of them were confident with what they said, and they said, 'Yeah, I think I'm beautiful.'"

Whalen and Schneider said they hopedthe video would encourage people to rethink how they think about themselves, and about beauty.

"So much of what we believe is what other people say. So if you hear someone else tell you that you're beautiful, it may influence you to have better self confidence in yourself, and realize that maybe you are beautiful," said Whalen.

'We could see an instant response'

The pair spent two weeks doing interviews during their lunch breaks, and spent about 20 hours editing the video. They presented it during the school's annual What's In Styleshow, an event which features a range of performances and presentations on topics including mental health, bullying, and body image.

Schneider said she was happy to see how positive the reaction was to the video.

"Immediately after the assembly, we were going on the buses and people were telling each other they were beautiful. So we could see an instant response," said Schneider.

Grade 9 teacher Chris Aiken saidthe video was "beautiful to see," and he hopes the message will have a positive impact on students.

"You know as teachers we can try to teach lessons, and try to relate to kids and tell them things are going to be okay. But when they hear that from their peers or when they see their peers doing that, it has a greater effect," said Aiken.

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