Resilience in silence: schooling while adultified as a Black girl in Canada

Abstract

This autoethnography examines how adultification and parentification shaped my educational and emotional development as a Black girl raised in a Caribbean family in Canada. Using narrative inquiry, I explore how racialized bias, gendered expectations, intergenerational dynamics, and cultural norms influenced my identity, mental health, and academic path. Four discourses frame this work—racialized bias and inequities, adultification, family dynamics, and resilience—illustrating how early caregiving roles disrupted childhood. While fostering adaptability, adultification also produced emotional suppression and academic detachment. This narrative highlights the consequences of premature responsibility and calls for trauma-informed, culturally responsive education that honours Black girls’ childhoods.