Lost Innocence — Writing

Reporter’s Notebook: The Uncomfortable Truths I Uncovered About Black Childhood

I spent months talking with Black folks for my series, “Lost Innocence: The Adultification of Black Children.” Here’s what I learned.

Published WorkAnissa DurhamMarch 14, 2023Adultification Bias, Lost Innocence, Journalism

If Parents Don’t Protect Their Kids From Abuse, Who Will?

1 in 4 Black girls will be sexually abused before age 18. When the women we spoke to told their parents, they weren’t protected.

Published WorkAnissa DurhamMarch 7, 2023Adultification Bias, Anti-Black, Children, Sexual Abuse, Hypersexualization, Lost Innocence

Life and Death: When Police Criminalize Young Black Men

In and out of schools, Black youth fear for their lives. And, for one teen in California, that fear comes every time he gets in his car.

Published WorkAnissa DurhamMarch 7, 2023Adultification Bias, Health, Mental Health, Education, Lost Innocence, Anti-Black, Criminalization

Why Do We View Black Girls as Sex Objects?

Black girls are so often viewed as sex objects that the blame is shifted to the girls being sexualized instead of the adults.

Published WorkAnissa DurhamMarch 7, 2023Adultification Bias, Health, Mental Health, Education, Lost Innocence, Anti-Black, Hypersexualization, Suicidial Ideation, Self harm

Black Children Deserve to Be Children

Black girls are called “fast” and boys are seen as men. Both lose their innocence thanks to adultification bias.

Published WorkAnissa DurhamMarch 7, 2023Adultification Bias, Health, Mental Health, Education, Lost Innocence, Anti-Black, Hypersexualization

What You Should Know About Adultification Bias

Explainer: A reader’s guide to what adultification bias is, how it shapes the lives of Black children, and why this stereotype of Black childhood needs to change.

Published WorkAnissa DurhamMarch 2, 2023Lost Innocence, Explainer, Guide, Adultification Bias, Black Children, Anti-Black, Criminalization, Hypersexualization