What’s Adultism Anyway?

Another -ism may be just enough to ruin your summer holiday, but here’s one that begins to make sense the more you think about it. “Adultism” is the way relationships among adults and children are commonly accepted by both parties to be directed by the adult. Yes, parents, educators, and other adults must take responsibility for the care and well-being of children, but that’s not the point. Youth are entitled to agency in their lives … choice and ownership.

Adultism is the dismissal or minimization of the opinions, knowledge, culture, and life experiences of young people simply because they are young.

Understanding adultism is most helpful when we apply it to the messaging we send out to young people. It’s about agency:

• Do we assume we are more important than young people?
• Are we entitled to take actions that affect them without their agreement?
• Do we assume we are more intelligent?
• Are their opinions less important than ours?
• Do we give them agency in the decisions that affect them?
• Do we speak to them respectfully?

John Bell, the founder of YouthBuild, and the author of one of the earliest papers on adultism, suggested that adults consider their interactions with youth through the following lens:

• Would I treat an adult this way?
• Would I talk to an adult in this tone of voice?
• Would I grab this out of an adult’s hand?
• Would I make this decision for an adult?
• Would I have this expectation for an adult?
• Would I limit an adult’s behavior this way?