Gentile 1

Kyle Gentile

Dr. Sweeten

Composition 1120

23 November 2022

Navigating Adultification for Educators

Black/African American students make up 15% of the US Public School System, yet they

receive 40-50% of all disciplinary actions enforced by teachers, school administrators, and

school resource officers (OCR D5). These infractions are a majority “minor, nonviolent, [and]

subjective…like disruption, disrespect, defiance, and disobedience” – Michelle Turnage Young,

senior counselor at the civil rights NAACP Legal Defense Fund (20:30). For these minor

problems, black students are punished with repeated: detention, in and out-of-school suspension,

and expulsion. This disparity between population and discipline is not due to the bad actions of

black students, but to the unfair discipline caused by inherent and visible bias permeating our

educational system. This racialized dispalry system si currently attrubuting to one of the greatest

problems facing the american public schools system, the school-to-prison-pipeline. Defined as “a

sysyem where student from disadvantaged backgrounds are removed from public school through

suspension, expulsion, or arresting…these acts push students out of schools and into criminal

institutions specifically targeted at “troubled” black youth” (Mya Purcell 50:40)

By applying and assessing the effect of Adultification and Adultification Bias, we as educators

can help inhibit bias contributing to racial disparity and the school-to-prison pipeline.
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Adultification: A Psychological Effect

It is expected that children from lower economic classes will have tougher childhoods,

but what’s not expected is how children cope with it. Although there are a variety of methods

children turn to, none is more common than the process of Adultification: the assumption of

adult roles and mannerisms non-normative for their age group (Burton 332). This is most

common in families where the parents are unable to provide adequate care due to extreme work

hours, debilitating conditions, and/or drug addictions. In these situations, children often take on

needed adult roles where their parents are unable to, such as: caregiving for younger siblings,

managing household funds, monetarily providing for the family, or performing all household

labor and cooking. Children might also expect to act as comfort to their parents and siblings,

sharing their emotional burden. Children in these roles are observed to struggle: with great

emotional distress (resulting in anxiety and depression), academically, and in interpersonal

relationships needed for an enjoyable and healthy childhood.

Although the process of Adultification may seem completely negative, in minor and

moderate forms, it can provide a series of both negative and positive developmental outcomes. In

relation to their peers, children ‘adultified’ are often cited to: be more confident/responsible, feel

valued by their families, have greater life & problem solving skills, be more emphatic, and more

capable leaders (Burton 333). Although Adultification is an unfortunate outcome of our social

system, it should not be treated with pity or intimidation - but with understanding and respect, for

it is a demonstration of great caring and endurance from a child to their family.

It is surprisingly the positive outcomes of Adultification that create the most conflict for

educators. In the classroom, a child adultified can be expected to be a confident, headstrong

advocate of their own worth and ability. These attributes, that many children adultified even
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cherish about themselves (Burton 342), conflict with many educators’ expectations of how their

students must act. Outspokenness and leadership in the classroom is often seen as a threat to a

teacher’s authority. Understandably, it is important that students respect and follow the directions

of the teacher in order to maintain a controlled learning environment, but it is the methods that

many teachers use to reinforce their authority that is the problem. Outspokenness and advocacy

is not treated with consideration, but instead labeled as disruption, disrespect, defiance, or

disobedience - to punished by disciplinary action. This is no better demonstrated than from

research observation in the classroom of five-year-old student Tiffany and her teacher Ms.

Roberts. Tiffany, attending kindergarten near the low-income housing project where she lived

constantly butted heads with her teacher due to behavior. Ms. Roberts described her as an

“extremely verbal, classroom leader” but also as a child who “knew too much for her own good.”

Tiffany described Ms. Roberts as a person who treated her like a “baby” (Burton 337). For her

behavior, Tiffany was often punished with time in the corner and excessive verbal reprimands.

These behaviors were sure only to continue and be made more costly as she grows up. It is

imperative for teachers that we don’t punish these attributes of Adultification, but rather

implement them ways that are positive for their development and state of being.

The first and most important skill that we as educators need to gain is a thorough

understanding of the behaviors of an adultified child. This is necessary for educators so we can

understand why our students might be acting the way they are and manage their behavior

accordingly without resorting to disciplinary action. This will also help prevent the erroneous

application of Adultification to a child who is not experiencing any. To date, there are very little

resources available in the school system that can teach us about Adultification. Although, due to

the BLM protest and the renewed fight for civil rights there are many ongoing research studies,
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and we can expect partial implementation soon. As of right now, the most powerful way we can

grow our awareness is through the power of proximity (Endorsed by Bryan Stevenson in his

award-winning book Just Mercy); By getting close to the communities in which we and our

students live (ie. Meeting with parents, volunteering, and attending events) we can accurately

identify where forms of Adultification may be stemming from and accurately observe how it

may be attributing to student behavior. Once identified, these positive aspects must be pushed

into a productive conduit while also nurturing the negative aspects that Adultification creates.

For example, it may be productive for a outspoken student to lead a group, but you must also

focus on teaching them leadership and communication skills they have not have the opportunity

to learn due to childhood adultification. Lastly, providing a student with respite can be the most

important to their own wellbeing. Give room for adultified students to be kids, play, socialize

with their peers, and make and grow from their mistakes.

Adultification Bias – An Unconscious Racial Stigma

I would be irresponsible to cover Adultification without also addressing Adultification

Bias. As 20% of black families live below the poverty line (the black community being the most

poverty-stricken socioeconomic group in the US) it can statistically be expected that many black

children will experience adultification - it is even noted that, overall, black children experience

adultification stronger in comparison to any other group (Burton 336). This adult-like behavior is

noted by many educators and forms the grassroots of an unconscious racial stigma called

adultification bias.

A newer topic, adultification bias research also builds off the focus to decrease

disciplinary racial inequality in the education system. It can be described as “the perception that
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black children are less innocent and more adult-like than white children of the same age”

(Epstein, Girlhood Interrupted, 1). This causes drastic inequalities because this is not the simple

observation that one child acts adult-like, but the belief that the entire black child & adolescent

population as a whole acts more adult-like than their peers. This though process can form when a

teacher notices adultification-influenced behaviors by a few black children and makes

connections to link all black children to adultification. A US quantitative study in the reveals that

“Across all age ranges [0-19], participants viewed black children collectively as more adult-like

than white children” (Epstein, Girlhood Interrupted, 8). In reference, a teacher may see a black

student voice a minor concern or cause one disruption in class, but because of their experience

working with black adultified children, who are very independent due to their adultification, the

teacher will respond the same way they would to as if it were an adultified children backtalking

or teacher or challenging their authority. This association leads teachers to punish black children

more severely due to the perceived threat they have connected simply due to the color of their

skin. In simple terms, black children are given more consistent and harsher punishments that

white children due to adultification bias, punishment that is causing part of this massive

disciplinary inequality.

Not only does this bias leave black youth perceived as older, but as more culpable of

devious or criminal actions. In a horrific case from Bennington, New York, four 12-year-old

black and latinx girls were stripped searched when the school principal saw them gigging to each

other. The principal, perceiving their hyper and giddy attitude to be the result of drug use. “It’s

telling that this official saw four joyous, giggling children, and immediately suspected them of

drug use instead of what they were – happy children.” – Michelle Turnage Young (23:20).
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Although this one of the most horrific examples, it opens a window into how pervasive and

powerful adultification bias is in our culture.

Evidence of this effect is no more apparent than in the recent study of anger bias. Anger

bias is a subset of Adultification Bias that covers how people perceive anger in black children

compared to white children. In the study, researchers complied near identical photos of children

in different emotional states. The photos were divided by race and but into an emotional

paradigm. When asked to identify the children’s emotions, participants (all parents of children)

erroneously identified black children as angry to a much greater extent than to their white

counterparts, replicating results from a previously study the year before. This perceived anger is

directly attributed to adultification bias (Alison 1419). When applying these findings to the

education system, we can directly see it’s effects as part of the racially inequal disciplinary

actions plaguing the us education system. Even larger, we can apply this perceived anger as an

attribute of the excessive and unlawful violence against black teens by police organizations,

further confirming their racial motivations.

In the classroom, anger bias has caused the most substantial disciplinary action against

black youth. In a qualitative study where black girls were interviewed, a large portion told stories

of being wrongly perceived as angry or aggressive. One student cites that “They [educators]

always feel like you’re talking back when you’re not…[you] get detention, you get suspension”

in another interview, “A black girl…she’s always labeled as like, angry” “The minute that a

teacher thinks your sassing them, they’ll send the security guard” (Epstein, Listening to Black

Girls, 5). To see anger where there is none causes real anger. Our students need to feel

emotionally understood if we wish them to succeed in the classroom, otherwise we will be

contributing a new generation of children that hate education and never want to return to such

institutions due to the racism that they experienced.

Conclusion

Racial disparity inequality is one of the greatest factors contributing to the school to

prison pipeline. As of right now, black children & teens make up a larger percentage of those

incarcerated than they do of those enrolled in the education system (Mya Purcell 50:20). It’s our

responsibility to help put stop to this pipeline. It is our responsibility to uphold the civil liberties

promised 68 years in Brown vs. The Board of Education. In our growing understanding and

gentle treatment of adultification, and through the awareness and introspection of our

unconscious bias and the action it may lead up to enact, we will be able to achieve a safer, just

educational system for our nations’ youth.

Works Cited

Burton, Linda. “Childhood Adultification in Economically Disadvantaged Families: A

Conceptual Model.” Family Relations, vol. 56, no. 4, Oct. 2007, pp. 329–45. EBSCOhost

Cooke, Alison, and Amy G. Halberstadt. Adultification, Anger Bias, and Adults’ Different

Perceptions of Black and White Children. Cognition and Emotion, July 2021.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2021.1950127

Epstein, Rebecca, and Jamilia Blake. Listening to Black Women and Girls: Lived Experiences of

Adultification Bias. Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, 2019, Web,

https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-inequality-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/

14/2019/05/Listening-to-Black-Women-and-Girls.pdf

Epstein, Rebecca, et al. Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood.

Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, 2017, Web,

https://genderjusticeandopportunity.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/

girlhood-interrupted.pdf

US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). 2017-18 State and National

Estimations. Civil Rights Data Collection. 2021. Web,

https://ocrdata.ed.gov/estimations/2017-2018

Young, Michell and Mya Purcell, panelists. Brown 67 Years Later: Examining Disparities in

School Discipline & Pursuit of Safe/Inclusive Schools. US. Department of Education.

May 11, 2021. Web, https://youtu.be/mv6dBWXobtQ