If You Think 'Adulting' is Hard, There's Actually a School to Help You Out
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"From knowing how to boil an egg to how to file taxes, college kids these days lack basic life skills," ATTN: reported in November. "We need to teach #adulting in schools again."
Need to learn? Now there's The Adulting School, a mostly online teaching program slated to launch this month.
"The most commonly reported challenges seem to be around managing money and time-management," Adulting School co-founder, psychotherapist Rachel Weinstein, told ATTN:.
We all have gaps in our knowledge — stuff we should have learned at some point in life but didn't. In addition to money, Weinstein said, "people also mention the challenge of work/life balance, and struggling with a general lack of feeling prepared, capable, and empowered to confront the myriad challenges that adulting presents: when something breaks, a button falls off a shirt, your boss is unreasonable but you don't know how to set boundaries, etc."
The Adulting School is also offering "expert information" in other areas, including "relationships and community," according to its website. What does that mean, exactly?
"[Skills like] setting boundaries, having realistic expectations for romantic relationships, communicating effectively through conflict, and much more," Weinstein explained. "The community aspect is more: know your basic civil rights, basic participation in your local government, [and] how to start volunteering."
The training consists of online lessons and access to a private Facebook group, along with occasional "live" events in Portland, Maine, where the school's founders are located. The cost is $19.99 a month, Weinstein said, with discounts for those who need more than a few months to catch up on adulthood.
"Millennials Struggle to Pass Life Skills 101," Forbes declared in 2014.
"Millennials are genuine achievers when it comes to structured classroom knowledge," Forbes reported. "Today, a record share of 25- to 29-year-olds possess degrees from four-year colleges (33%) and high schools (90%). [...] But when it comes to basic life skills, let’s be honest: Older generations are often astonished by how little Millennials know."
Forbes cites a lack of knowledge about how to care for cars as one area where millennials are lacking. "Cooking is another practical skill that has dropped by the wayside," it added, citing a marketing report by SmartBrief.
"As a therapist," Weinstein told ATTN:, "I saw so many clients struggling with a lack of skills central to adulting and feeling like they were the only ones. I knew that I'd had to teach myself how to bake bread and change my oil and call my state representative, and meditate for stress reduction and that these skills weren't being taught in schools."
Hence The Adulting School: "I loved the idea of sharing this information in a fun, engaging, empowering way."
The Adulting School has its critics, however.
Inc. reported on Tuesday that "critics [of the school] generally take the stance that it's embarrassing that society even has gotten to the point that the school is necessary." Conservative news and opinion website, Heat Street, referred to it as a school for "special snowflake millennials."
If you're wondering if this school is necessary for you, The Adulting School offers an online quiz to test your "adulting IQ."