The blessing of failure

How the best parents learn

Author Name: Jessica Lahey

Modern parenting is characterized by an unprecedented level of overprotection. Parents now rush to school to hand in homework they forgot, argue with teachers about their children's frustratingly poor grades, control their children's friendships, and even interfere in the decisions of their children's coaches on the field. As teacher, journalist, and mother Jessica Lahey explains, although these parents consider themselves highly responsive to their children's well-being and safety, they don't give them the opportunity to experience failure or learn to solve their own problems.

Everywhere Jessica visited, she observed a clear and intense fear of failure in both her students and her own sons. This fear undermined children's self-reliance, competence, motivation, and relationships with the adults in their lives. Lahey wanted to offer advice on handling homework, school reports, social activities, and sports. Most importantly, she developed a plan to help parents learn to step back and accept their children's failures as well as their successes.