Why We Should Teach Kids About Failure

Failure is an essential part of everyone’s lives. No matter how much people would try to run away from failure, sooner or later they will fail. And this sounds harsh because this is what society and people around taught us. Many people are after success and all the stories about this only pinpoint to the steps you have to take to be successful. 

At the same time, parents around the world are trying to protect their children from adversities. Seeing your kids suffering, being sad, disappointed, or mad is not an easy thing to bear. But this desire of making everything possible to help their children makes parents adopt unhealthy techniques to raise them and teach them how to win and lose. 

Everyone wants to win, and no one wants to lose. Failure is something that should be embraced and the collective mindset on failure should be changed. However, the healthiest option is to teach your kids about failure. When they are small, they do not understand entirely how the world goes. But they know what it is like to win a match with your football or basketball team. They know how it is to win a contest. But as they grow up, they will also fail. They will get second or third place. And when this happens, kids will experience negative emotions. 

But a healthy perspective on failure will help them handle these emotions healthily. So, why is it so important to teach kids about failure?

Failure Helps You Redefine Your Priorities 

Even though this might seem complicated for kids, failure helps them redefine their priorities. When they are kids, they do not have so many dreams and things to do. But as they grow up, they will take more responsibilities, they will go to college, have families and a job. Failure will be there along the way and no matter how much parents would try to protect their children, failure is a good thing. 

Failure often serves as a reality check, it makes you ask yourself some questions and define your priorities. You get to know yourself better, and your values too. So, this introspection will help kids find what they like and organize their lives accordingly. Keep in mind that what you teach your kids will manifest in the adult period. So, you should focus on raising a resilient child.

Failure Increases Compassion 

Being egoistic might be helpful in some moments, but compassion is the one that makes the world going. Everyone can learn to be compassionate, but failure is the greatest teacher. When we pursue and want something so badly, we can easily care only about our dream and ego. 

But when failure happens, it may hurt. It may be shattering. But it is the most honest feedback you can get on your actions, behavior, and pursuit. And when you feel disappointed, you surround yourself with your closest ones. You take things easy, accept your failure, and learn from it. And this increases compassion, empathy, and kindness. 

This is an important effect of teaching kids about failure. Being compassionate and showing empathy are some precious qualities.

Failure Helps You Develop Your Skills 

One of the most important things failure comes with is feedback. Kids might fail at a game or a contest. They might identify failure as not being able to learn how to play an instrument, getting a bad grade, or doing mistakes. And those moments are hurtful. 

Kids could be taught to identify their emotions and also the good parts failure comes with. Because failure helps them develop and improve their skills. Failure helps them identify the things they are not so good at and work at improving them. At the same time, they improve their problem-solving and conflict management skills, which will be helpful later in their life.

Failure Is Normal 

As we said, failure is part of everyone’s life. But how can you, as a parent, teach kids this thing? Kids are like sponges and they imitate almost all they see. Parents are their role models and the ones that have the most power of helping their kids. 

Learning that failure is normal is important, as kids can understand their emotions better. At the same time, they develop their emotional labeling skills and coping mechanisms. But to make them understand and accept that failure is part of everyone’s life, you can share your personal story. Something that is easy to understand and relate to and that will teach your kids how to cope with negative experiences. It is kind of leading by example and encouraging your kids to overcome failure healthily.

Failure Can Make You More Motivated 

Most people and kids see the negative consequences of failure and overlook the good ones. For kids that pursue their dreams and wishes, failure can be hurtful. But it can also be that boost of motivation they need. When you fail, you understand what did not work how you imagined it to work. And if you really believe in your dream, failure will be just one obstacle you need to overcome. 

Failure is natural and normal and it happens every day and to everyone. As soon as kids learn this, they will embrace failure and understand its importance. Parents’ deep desire is to protect their kids and see them succeed. Seeing them disappointed, frustrated, and angry might not be easy, but it is necessary. 

It is important to teach kids about failure because a healthy perspective on it will help them develop their skills. Besides the problem solving and conflict management skills, failure will teach them how to organize their time better and how to develop a project. They will learn to redefine their priorities, set new goals, and be kind. And above all, failure can fuel them with the motivation boost they need, so teaching failure is important for kids. 

Let your kids fail, lead by example, and help them label their emotions and get a flexible and healthy perspective on failure. 

Tobias Foster is a journalist and editor with more than 5 years' work experience and big ambitions. He works at essaygeeks.co.uk where he coordinates the mba essay writing service. Tobias also writes paper writing services reviews. Philosophy, parenting, and psychology are his passion, and he has a wealth of knowledge in that field. He is a master of his craft.