The term “adulting” refers to learning how to behave as a responsible adult. While it’s often used in a joking way, it’s no joke that many young people today must learn basic daily skills, from writing checks to cooking to dealing with a flat tire. We talk with someone from one of the country’s first “adulting schools,” and we’ll hear about what young people today lack in functional skills—and what societal trends have led to this phenomenon.
This show is part of Maine Calling focus on topics relating to young people.
Guests
Rachel Flehinger, principal, Adulting School; comedian, teacher, actress
Rachel Weinstein, psychotherapist; founder of the Adulting School
Jaimie Terrilyn Richards, taking adulting classes; she works in other fields, including giving foodie tours, being a caretaker and nanny, and property management; she lives in Jay
Amy Wood (by phone), psychologist, coach, mediator
Beth Arsenault (by phone), alternative ed teacher, Portland Public Schools
Beth Scherpf (by phone), family and consumer sciences educator at Skowhegan Area High School; awarded the 2018 Maine Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year
Resources
- Adulting School
- A New Class in Portland Teaching Adult Skills They Don't Teach In School
- WNYC Studios Adulting podcast
- I Took ‘Adulting Classes’ for Millennials: Inside the curious cottage industry devoted to teaching young adults how to act like grown-ups
- Millennials: Stop Talking About ‘Adulting’ And Become Adults
- ‘Poor little snowflake’ – the defining insult of 2016