Stereotyping Our Youth

End Adultification Bias 

In the video "End Adultification Bias" there were many stereotypes about black girls and women. One stereotype that adults gave them was that they are too loud, aggressive, angry and their actions were seen as threatening and disrespectful. Another stereotype is that black girls needs less nurturing, support and less protection. This video revealed a lot of important facts such as Black girls are 2.7 times more likely to be referred to the juvenile justice system. Black girls are 20% more likely to get charged with crimes. Black girls face higher standards.  Adults hold black girls more accountable for their actions while white girls are given sympathy. 

 One girl said "Feel like as a black girl we can't make mistakes". Why should anyone have to feel like they can't make a mistake due to their skin color? Black girls are "always supposed to know better. " Why do black girls have to know better and white girls can make mistakes and it's okay? If a black girl and white girl made the same mistakes they should have the same consequences and treated equally. One does not deserve harsher treatment because of the color of their skin. One girls shared that people already assumed she was "cussing people out, drinking and having sex" just because she's black. Young black girls are stereotyped before they even know it. Adults see them as less innocent and more adult like starting at the age of 5. 

                                                                     

The stereotypical black child is raised in poverty and is more likely to be exposed to crime, drugs, violence with limited adult supervision. This leads adults to think that because of their upbringing that they are going to be on a certain path/making bad choices vs the stereotypical white child who is raised in a middle/high class area and is more likely to not to witness crimes, drugs and violence. Because of that adults seem to think they're innocent and can't do no wrong. 

 

Child Development Core Story, Part 2: Serve and Return

Serve and Return describes the fundamental adult-child interactions which helps babies reach their full potential. The interaction between adult and child doesn't always have to be verbal, it could be feeding or bathing. Studies have shown that a child surrounded by responsible and caring adults will start elementary school with better social skills, be able to focus better, better emotion regulation than a child that lacks positive adult attention. Talking with your child or even playing peekaboo will help they learn new words and form a language. Without healthy brain architecture kids are at risk of falling behind and never catching up. 

A woman in the video stated she encourages parents to build scaffolding for their children. The support doesn't have to be just family, it could be the entire neighborhood and community. I think it's important to understand that every parents situation is different. Some parents may not be financially stable and may need to work multiple jobs to pay the bills and take care of their children. Some parents may be single parents and they have to work a lot to provide for their child and because of that they spend less time with their children. Because parents spend less time with their children they are often stereotyped as a "bad parent" because they're not interacting with their child the way they should be. I think its important for children to have adult-child interaction because its benefits them in all aspects but that interaction can come from family, friends of the family, teachers, etc. 

A memory where I experienced prejudice as a young person/Adult- There has been several times where I have been with some of my black friends and I would say something or act a certain way and they would say "thats your white side or thats how you can tell your half white".