Gift of Failure

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In the tradition of Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed and Wendy Mogel’s The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, this groundbreaking manifesto focuses on the critical school years when parents must learn to allow their children to experience the disappointment and frustration that occur from life’s inevitable problems so that they can grow up to be successful, resilient, and self-reliant adults.

Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of overprotectiveness: parents who rush to school at the whim of a phone call to deliver forgotten assignments, who challenge teachers on report card disappointments, mastermind children’s friendships, and interfere on the playing field. As teacher and writer Jessica Lahey explains, even though these parents see themselves as being highly responsive to their children’s well being, they aren’t giving them the chance to experience failure—or the opportunity to learn to solve their own problems.

Overparenting has the potential to ruin a child’s confidence and undermine their education, Lahey reminds us. Teachers don’t just teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. They teach responsibility, organization, manners, restraint, and foresight—important life skills children carry with them long after they leave the classroom.

Providing a path toward solutions, Lahey lays out a blueprint with targeted advice for handling homework, report cards, social dynamics, and sports. Most importantly, she sets forth a plan to help parents learn to step back and embrace their children’s failures. Hard-hitting yet warm and wise, The Gift of Failure is essential reading for parents, educators, and psychologists nationwide who want to help children succeed.

In traditia lui Paul Tough in Cum reusesc copiii si a lui Blending of a Skinned Knee de Wendy Mogel, acest manifest revolutionar se concentreaza pe anii scolari critici in care parintii trebuie sa invete sa le permita copiilor sa experimenteze dezamagirea si frustrarea care apar din inevitabila viata probleme, astfel incat sa poata creste pentru a avea adulti de succes, rezilienti si independenti. Parentalitatea moderna este definita de un nivel fara precedent de supraprotectivitate: parintii care se grabesc la scoala la capriciul unui apel telefonic pentru a livra sarcini uitate, care provoaca profesorii cu privire la dezamagirile de buletin, creeaza prietenii copiilor si interfereaza pe terenul de joc.