We're treating Black kids like they're adults and it's a danger to their lives

• Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teen, was shot in the head after going to the wrong home to pick up his two younger siblings.
• His story has brought attention to adultification bias, which disproportionately harms Black children.

On the night of April 13, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teen, went to the wrong home in Kansas City to pick up his two younger siblings. When he rang the doorbell, he was greeted by Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white homeowner who shot Yarl in the head. Shortly after, Lester administered a second bullet, shooting Yarl in the right arm.

Lester told police that he and Yarl didn't exchange words before he fired at him through a locked glass door. A probable cause statement revealed that Lester told investigators he was "scared to death" by the teenager's size and worried he would not be able to defend himself.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told CNN's News Central he believes Ralph was racially profiled by the shooter. "This boy was shot because he was existing while Black, and he knocked on the door of someone who clearly, clearly fears Black people — Black boys, Black children, and I think that that is clear as day."

Lester surrendered to authorities and pleaded not guilty to felony charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. He has been released on $200,000 bail. Yarl, who has a prognosis of a full recovery, has been discharged from the hospital.

In response to claims that Yarl's size is intimidating, family attorney, Lee Merritt, told CNN that Yarl stands at 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. "There is no way you can see fear when you look at that kid — if you really look at him, and not just the color of his skin. There is no way you can see fear," Faith Spoonmore, Yarl's aunt added.

The problem of adultification bias

The case, which is still under investigation, made headlines after protests broke out across Kansas City. It is yet another example of the epidemic of unarmed Black boys and men falling victim to gun violence, such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin. The case also brought attention to the underreported issue of adultification bias, which disproportionately harms Black children.

The term is used to define how Black children are viewed and treated as older than they are.

In 2017, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality explored the term in a report titled "Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls' Childhood." The report labeled adultification bias as a form of dehumanization that presents the actions of Black children as "intentionally malicious, instead of the result of immature decision-making — a key characteristic seen in childhood."

Viewed as less innocent

The effects of adultification bias can manifest in different ways — Black teens and children could be hypersexualized, or seen as hyperhuman, something that often happens to Black athletes. It can also lead to medical neglect, sexual assault, violence, and sometimes death.

A 2014 study found that Black boys as young as age 10 are viewed as less innocent than their white peers, placing them in positions of being held responsible for their actions. Black boys are also more likely to be perceived as guilty and face police violence if accused of a crime.

Adultification bias doesn't just affect boys. A 2020 study found that Black girls are thought to need less nurturing, less protection, less support, less comfort than their white peers. They are also seen as being more independent, and more knowledgeable about adult topics, like sex.

Facing harsher punishments

These biases can have a lifelong impact. Studies have found that Black students are more likely to face harsh punishments in school than their white counterparts, even when they behave in the same manner. When students are routinely punished, suspended or expelled, they are less likely to graduate and more likely to be a part of the criminal justice system.

There are many reasons Black children specifically face adultification bias, including systemic racism and white supremacy. A 2022 study found that these societal factors also force Black children to take on adult behaviors and roles, well before they are adults.

"Black children are often taught to behave in a manner more mature than their age. This has been a method for survival," Kim Wheeler Poitevien, a licensed clinical social worker told WebMD. "When a girl is catcalled it's because her clothes are 'too tight.' When she is reprimanded for talking in school she is 'disruptive' rather than gregarious."

Because of these reactions, many Black children learn to control the ways in which they are perceived through altering their appearance, whether it be clothing or hairstyles. This is a form of respectability politics that social workers like Wheeler Poitevien reject.

"I often tell them that they cannot control the opinions and expectations of the adults and the system around them and understand that it's unfair," Wheeler Poitevien said.