Mind Ya Mental Podcast Black Kids Are Not Little Adults
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Oct 28, 2025 The podcast dives into the adultification of Black children, exploring how they are often treated as mini-adults, impacting their mental health. It connects historical roots of dehumanization to modern-day consequences in schools and families. Dr. Martin advocates for emotional sensitivity at home and emphasizes community support as essential in healing. She highlights the need for positive representation in media, the balance between protecting children and allowing joy, and suggests reparenting as a path to reclaim humanity.
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Adultification Changes How Children Are Treated
- Black children are often perceived as less innocent and treated as older than they are.
- This adultification causes harsher discipline and disproportionately harms Black youth in schools and the justice system.
A Mother Modeling Emotional Sensitivity
- Raquel Martin describes crying at her kitchen table while her boys looked on with varying maturity.
- She uses the moment to model emotional sensitivity so her children learn to check on others when they cry.
Dehumanization Enabled Systemic Harm
- Adultification and dehumanization were tools used historically to justify exploitation and harm.
- Dehumanizing narratives made atrocities easier to commit and persist through propaganda and stereotypes.