Young people and adults need equitable relationships-they do not need equal ones.

The outcome of this culture of discrimination is that young people are routinely denied the roles in society they can, should, and need to be occupying.

Adultism leads to a phenomenon of little adults, who are young people who are treated as adults-in-the-making. A non-discriminatory perspective would be to treat children and youth as whole and complete people right now.

Young people often serve as scapegoats for the challenges communities face. At the same time, they are routinely pushed away from connecting to their communities as serious problem-solvers capable of changing the world.

Like a pet fish unaware of the fishbowl it lives in, each of us inherently discriminates against young people without knowing it.

Adultism is not always harmful-but it is always real.

For every young person living on the streets tonight, there are many at home zoning out inside their homes through video games, and even more who disengage from school. These are direct effects of internalized discrimination based on their age.