7A Failing Can Be a Good Thing

Everyone fails at something at some point during their lifetime.  When someone fails at something, right away they probably think "great no I am a failure." In my opinion, failing at something does not make you a "failure." Even though people get discouraged when they fail at something, I think failing can also be a good thing. When I fail at something it makes me want to work ten times hard.  For example, when I lost a soccer, basketball, or lacrosse game it made me want to practice so much harder the next day.  I remember during basketball season if we lost a tough game, at practice we would work on everything we did wrong during the game so that next game we wouldn't make the same mistakes. "If you are not practicing deliberately, you might as well not practice at all." (The Myth of 'Practice Makes Perfect') What this means is that its not the quantity of what you are practicing it's the quality.  Practice on what you know you need to work on, don't waste your time practicing something that you have already mastered.

With all of this being said, I do not think kids should be encouraged to fail.  If parents encouraged their kids to fail then that is all they will used to and they would never be successful.  When kids do fail at something, parents can try to help them so that they don't make the same mistakes the second time.  Educationally,  when kids fail a test parents shouldn't baby them and always say that its okay.  If this is the situation parents should explain to them that failing a test is not good and they should help their kids study so that they get a better grade on the next test.

Failing can also be a bad thing for some people.  There are some people that are very sensitive when it comes to failing and when they fail at something, they will just give up.  Throughout my high school experiences, I have noticed that some people just get so frustrated when they fail a test that they don't even try the next time.  An alternative for this is that teachers can reach out to the students in their class that have been failing their tests.  If teachers stay on top of their students then I think this will decrease the chances of students failing their tests.

All in all, failing goes both ways.  Many people think that when they fail at something they become a "failure." This is not the case, when you fail at something, work on your mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes the next time. Although people may think that failing is bad, overall I think that failing can be a valuable thing.  When you fail at something you should want to work a lot harder so that you are successful in the future.