Adultification. Is this a term you are familiar with consciously using or have you used unconsciously? Wikipedia defines adultification bias as a form of racial prejudice where children of minority groups, such as African American treated as being more mature than their chronological age peers. Yes, there are times when adults’ perceptions of children particularly minority children where they do not have all the knowledge and needed information not allowing societal or cultural stereotypes determine actions towards them.
Personal story. When I was approximately 12-years-old much taller than my age peers I had my sister (darker hue) and two first cousins (brothers – biracial) light brown and fair white complexions where they ranged in ages from 2- to 4-years old in a shopping cart. While going down an aisle, two mature senior age white women stated in a loud voice for me to overhear, “look at her with three children by three different baby daddies. That’s what they do to get welfare assistance”. Before, I had the opportunity to respond my mom overheard them and shared her opinion of the statement with them not having true facts on making assumptions. Well, I was so naïve of what they were saying for I came from a two-parent middle-class family (African American) household nor had heard of the term “adultification”.
From this personal experience, it has been denoted that Black girls need less nurturing, less protection, supported less, comforted less, more independent, know more about adult topics and know more about topics of sex (Epstein, Blake, & Gonzalez, 2020, 4/23). Therefore, those two white mature senior women saw me not as a 12-year-old girl but older than I was and overly sexual with three children and no father’s in our lives. Yes, Black girls have the same right as their white age peers to be treated equally where they are protected, respected, and not seen older than what they are in the eyes of adults.
When one relates adultification to Black boys it is where they are presumed to be men. This mindset must be rewired to seeing Black boys as the children who they truly are not adult men. Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has coined the term misinformation effect where one changes the language of incorrect information that is used in referencing ideologies of African American boys and girls as adults exhibiting adulthood behaviors. Therefore, early childhood educators must advocate to remove this concept of adultification viewing African American children as grown adults
The concept of adultification dates to when the African first came to American as an enslaved person. “Beginning in slavery Black boys and girls were imagined as chattel and were often put to work as young as two and three years old. Subjected to much of the same dehumanization suffered by Black adults.” (Epstein & Gonzalez, 2020, 7/23). With that being the children’s reality, they were unable to exhibit what is seen as typical developmentally age appropriate behaviors instead of being seen as more mature developing children depicting adult maturity.
Eberhart (2019) reiterated that “categorization is a fundamental tool that our brains are wired to use” (p. 31) where statements are made and mental profiling of people color where White society is seeking for assimilation to the current majority population in the States of White norms. Look at the image below and what do you truly see? Is it an African American girl who is wondering what she can do, who to play with or is it the taller shadow one of her being an adult exhibiting adult behaviors?
Take time to view the picture of the African American father with his son. Do you see the son as an adult? No not why? If yes, why? Too, many educators do not see a creative, energetic, problem-solving African American boy but see an adult whom they need to be protected from based upon behaviors exhibited in the learning environment.
Resources
Books
1.
The Brilliance of Black Boys
Cultivating School Success in the Early Grades by Brain L.
Wright and Shelly L. Counsell
2.
Pushout: The
Criminalization of Black Girls in School by Monique
Morris
3.
Teaching Beautiful Brilliant Black
Girls by Bola Delano-Oriaran, Marguerite W. Penick-Parks,
Shemariah J. Arki, Ali Michael, Orinthia Swindell and Eddie Moore
4.
The Trouble with Black Boys: … And
Other Reflections on Race, Equity, and the Future of Public Education by
Pedro A. Noguera
YouTube Clips
1.
What is the history of
Adultification? (4:11) à https://youtu.be/BCnWieJwXrI
2.
End Adultification Bias (4:31) à https://youtu.be/L3Xc08anZAE
The following are reflective questions towards self-reflection on
the topic of adultification:
1.
What blind spots and bias might I
have around adultification?
2.
How can I be more of a critically
conscious leader going forward not be make adultification assumptions?
Conclusion
Early childhood educators must be “color brave” which was coined
by Mellody Hobson to be comfortable in advocating through their voices to speak
candidly, frankly, and honestly about race removing adultification
acts. Yes, early childhood educators we are agents of change, to
confront our own biases than nudge others to do the same.
In addition, early childhood educators must be provided ongoing professional development in conjunction with coaching/mentoring as a guidance of modeling where emphasis is placed upon reduction of implicit bias and engaging all staff in the facility towards dismantling adultification perceptions of African American children. Educators must have the opportunity to unpack their own unconscious decision-making process and construct tools to help them better reenact to facilitating learning in a culturally responsive framework where children are respectful and the lens of being childlike through building strong relationships based upon mutual trust and respect.
References
Dumas, M. J. & Nelson, J. D. (2016). (Re)Imagining Black boyhood: Toward a critical framework for educational research, 86 (1). Harvard Educational Review 27-47.
Eberhardt, J. L. (2019). Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudice that shapes what we see, think, and do. New York: Penguin Books.
End adultification bias at https://youtu.be/L3Xc08anZAE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adultification-bias
Epstein, R., Blake, J. J., & Gonzalez, T. (2020). Girlhood interrupted: The erasure of black girls’ childhood. Retrieved from https://genderjusticeandopportunity.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/girlhood-interrupted.pdf
Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J.C. (1974). Reconstruction
of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between
language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal
Behavior, 13, 585-589.
Poppy Harlow and Hatley Draznin, “Mellody Hobson on race: ‘We must be color brave,” CNN.com, January 22, 2018, http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/22/news/mellody-hobson-boss/files/index.hmtl
What is the history of adultification at https://youtu.be/BCnWieJwXrI
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