What is Adultification

“The measure of a society is how it treats its children.”

— Nelson Mandela

The Urgent Need to Recognise Adultification in Safeguarding

This is a short read but an important one.
We encourage you to pause and reflect on how adultification may be shaping safeguarding practice in ways that often go unrecognised.

During safeguarding training, we frequently ask a simple but uncomfortable question:
Is your safeguarding practice truly anti-racist, or is it built on a one-size-fits-all approach?

One of the most persistent blind spots in safeguarding is adultification , the tendency to perceive Black children, particularly Black girls, as older, more resilient, or less in need of protection than their peers. The result is less care, less empathy, and fewer protective responses.

When asked in training whether participants are familiar with the term adultification, the answer is often no. This raises an important question:
Is adultification absent from practice or simply unrecognised?

Experience and evidence suggest the latter.

Adultification shows up in policing responses, in missing person cases, in media narratives, and in everyday safeguarding decisions. Black and racialised children are frequently treated differently — viewed as more culpable, more capable, and less vulnerable.

A well-known and deeply troubling example is Child Q a 15-year-old Black girl who was strip searched by police at school without an appropriate adult present. The Child Q Safeguarding Practice Review concluded that racism was a likely factor in the dehumanisation she experienced. Her distress was dismissed, her innocence erased, and her right to protection denied.

This is not an isolated incident. It reflects a wider pattern in which Black children are denied the childhood afforded to others.

How Adultification Impacts Safeguarding Practice

When safeguarding professionals unconsciously view Black children as more streetwise, more mature, or less vulnerable, safeguarding responses are weakened.

Research consistently shows that:

• Black girls are perceived as needing less comfort, care and support than their white peers
  (Davis & Marsh, 2020; The Children’s Society, 2022)

• Language used in safeguarding reports such as streetwise, mature for their age, or difficult, which reinforces stereotypes and reduces protective responses

• The hyper-criminalisation of Black children increases the likelihood they are treated as perpetrators rather than victims, particularly in policing and media contexts

These patterns appear repeatedly in high-profile cases, including:

• Disproportionate police involvement in schools serving Black communities

• Reduced urgency and visibility in missing person cases involving Black children

What Room Is Left for Vulnerability?

If Black children are seen as more adult-like, where is the space for vulnerability?

If they are not recognised as needing protection, how can safeguarding systems respond effectively?

We invite you to pause and reflect:

When you think of innocence
What image comes to mind?
Who do you picture?

Our answers often reveal unconscious biases that influence how safeguarding decisions are made, recorded and acted upon.

Questions for Organisations and Safeguarding Leads

If you are a Designated Safeguarding Lead or work with children and young people, consider:

• Are we aware of adultification bias in our setting?

• Are safeguarding responses equitable for all children and young people?

• Do we challenge biased language in reports and assessments?

• Does our training explicitly address adultification?

• If this term feels unfamiliar, why might that be?

Safeguarding cannot be equitable unless it actively recognises how bias shapes risk, response and protection.

Learning More: Adultification in Practice

We are hosting a 45-minute overview session on adultification for safeguarding professionals in June.

This session will support participants to:

• Understand what adultification is and how it shows up in practice

• Recognise its impact on safeguarding decision-making

• Reflect on language, assumptions and organisational responses

If you are interested in attending, please get in touch.

Safeguarding must be for all children without bias, without exception

Further reading resources available

Safeguarding children from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities | NSPCC Learning

CHSCP-Child-Q-Update-Report-June-2023.pdf

Can I be searched at school – lawstuff.org.uk

This reflective approach is embedded within our Level 4 and Level 5 safeguarding training.