Anti-Racist Practice
What is Anti-Racist Practice?
It involves proactively identifying, challenging, and changing the values, structures, policies, and behaviors that perpetuate racial inequities.
When working with children, this means:
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Recognising and valuing the diverse racial and cultural identities of every child.
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Addressing biases - both implicit and explicit - that may influence our expectations, language, or disciplinary actions.
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Creating inclusive learning and care environments that reflect and affirm the lives of children from all backgrounds.
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Listening to and amplifying the voices of children and families from communities experiencing racial inequality.
Adultification Bias
Adultification is a form of bias where children are viewed and treated as older than they are. It can happen to children of any age and shapes how they are protected and safeguarded. It can result in children’s rights being overlooked (Listen Up, 2025).
Children may be perceived as being more ‘streetwise’, more ‘grown up’, less innocent and less vulnerable than other children. Adultification can impact any child but it disproportionately affects Black children, who might be viewed primarily as a threat rather than as a child who needs support (Davis 2022; Davis and Marsh, 2020; Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, 2019).
Adultification strips children of the right to be children. It exposes them to unfair treatment and can have long-term effects on their mental health, education, and self-worth.
Our colleagues at the Essex Safeguarding Children Board produced a really helpful podcast with a multi-agency group of professionals exploring the topic of adultification which includes an open and honest discussion about how adultification bias affects safeguarding professionals and impacting positive change within organisations. You can listen to the podcast below:
Further Resources and Reading Material:
Eastern Region Anti-Racist Pledge
Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review - Child Q (CHSCP)
Race, Racism and Safeguarding Children - Child Safegaurding Practice Review Panel Report (March 2025)
Adultification bias within Child Protection and Safeguarding report
Cultural Genograms
https://listenupresearch.org/