“Every NAACP branch under the California/Hawaii State Conference has officially adopted our adultification bias initiative,” says Jouslynn Griffin, newly elected First Vice-President of the Pasadena Branch of the NAACP and Committee Chair of Women in NAACP (WIN), who developed the educational program to bring awareness and end the practice.
“This means that all California and Hawaii NAACP branches share the purpose behind this resolution and will go into their communities and share the importance of ending adultification bias,” she says.
Work within the NAACP State Conference has already begun, with the Orange County NAACP branch requesting a presentation. The Committee’s next stop is a mid-December presentation to the California Civil Rights Department, which will segue into the National NAACP Conference that will be coming up in the spring. The group will also present the workshop in February to a private school.
Also on the agenda is to secure an MOU with the office of the newly-elected LA County District Attorney Nate Hochman once his new administration is sworn in.
Not just a Black issue
In her 2007 research, Dr. Leslie Burton, Dean of UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, writes about childhood adultification and the accelerated life course, describing four types of adultification: (1) precocious knowledge, witnessing situations and acquiring knowledge that is advanced for the child’s age; (2) mentored adultification, where the child assumes adult-like roles or responsibilities with limited adult supervision and a parental hierarchy; (3) peerification/spousification, when a child becomes more of a parent’s peer than a parent’s subordinate; and (4) parentification, where the child serves as a full-time quasi-parent to siblings.
“Our WIN Committee has developed a slide deck which presents the issues around adultification bias. It provides the history behind it, what it’s rooted in, and how it can be eradicated. It’s a presentation that they can customize within their branch offices,” says Griffin.
“The studies have already been completed with other agencies,” Griffin continues. “They’ve already done the work, so we don’t have to reinvent anything. The data is there, and we give the two research resources from Georgetown and the Congressional Government Accountability Report on K 12 Experiences for Black Girls.”
“What we’re finding is that nobody really knows what adultification bias is by definition. However, once we present the workshop, it’s amazing how people start to share stories about how they have experienced adultification bias, personally, or how they have imposed adultification bias on their children.”
Griffin is encouraged. “It’s not just in the Black community. It’s just that the data points to Black girls being punished and disciplined more in K through 12. But to some extent, many of us have had this experience. It can be as simple as a child being a latch-key kid, being responsible for getting yourself home, making an after-school snack, and doing homework on your own, or being responsible for waking up and getting your sibling dressed and prepared for school. Of course, other stories are more frightening or hurtful, but many people have experienced it in different ways.”
Give it a rest
“Tricia Hersey from the NAP Ministry says rest is resistance,” quotes Griffin. “Sitting back, resting and taking care of yourself is a form of resistance, escaping from the grind.”
“There are only five of us who volunteer to conduct these presentations,” says Griffin. “So we have to be strategic, sharing the information, getting the word out, but also taking time to rest, and make sure that we’re not taking on too much, which is also a part of adultification bias. We fall into the stereotype of the ‘strong Black woman.’ We want to make sure that we balance the importance of getting the message out while at the same time practicing and fostering self-care amongst ourselves and our community.”
“If the NAACP adopts our resolution nationally, it’ll allow us to garner support, policies and practices to end adultification bias. I don’t know what that looks like going forward with the rollback of DEI practices,” said Griffin.
Locally, PPD Police Chief Eugene Harris hasn’t responded to a request for a meeting about the issue.
“No, he hasn’t responded. But he’s part of that rest piece. I’m sure the police chief knows what he promised in front of a room full of people. I believe that the partnership will happen organically. We’re committed to staying in this work.”
Hi Thank you! I haven’t looked at this even though I see and have experienced evidence of it. This touches a tender spot. What’s the primary thrust, I’m wondering. Is it to make the adults more aware and help them change parenting behaviors, or to help the “adultified” children understand that they are extra burdened so that they can strengthen self-esteem and find ways to cope and maybe find ways to make room for more play and free time? I hope whatever the plans are, they help and do not injure. I worry whenever families are pulled apart and children sent into the system, because that so often doesn’t seem to work out well. And I think there’s a plus side to the child who’s forced to stretch her mind and activities beyond play and scholarly learning, a strengthening of character and abilities. I know it’s a matter of degree.And of individual abilities and needs.
I’d really love to read a followup with information about what is being hoped for or planned for as remedy. Again, thank you for bringing this into view.