In Short – Failure is not an Option
Hello everyone -
Victor Davis Hansen wrote a brilliant article over an National Review. He’s captured something that has been plaguing our society for quite a while – this insistence that no one need fail anymore.
Read: Failure is Not an Option
We have this belief today that, if people fail, that it’s bad. We stopped keeping score with kids games so they can all feel like winners – rather than teaching them the principles of Vince Lombardi’s speech What it Takes to be Number One. In short, we are emasculating ourselves because we can no longer stand to feel the pain of losing, even if it encourages us to do better next time.
The other day, my kid got her very first “F”. She was distraught over it, but she came to understand that failure is not something bad – it’s something that teaches you of what NOT to do or what doesn’t work. We need success to validate and reward, but we need failure to teach.
I teach classes where students can fail if they don’t do their homework. I am easy in some regards, but if they don’t try, they fail. Today, though, I’m in the minority of instructors, who want that positive rating, rather than really teach students.
Well, I’m keeping this short. Read and shoot me a comment or reply (remember, be respectful).
Rick
