In the minds of kids as well as adults “failure” is something to be avoided at all costs. But Jessica Lahey, educator and author of The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Kids Can Succeed says we may be missing something important in our mistake-averse approach to life. “I don’t want kids to fail. I want kids to have this adapt-positive response to making mistakes. Unfortunately, when I talk to parents these days a B- is ‘failure’ to them.” Annie talks with Jessica about how our current hyper fixation on success hurts kids and what we can do to help them succeed while acknowledging the value of making mistakes along the way.

Audio via Stitcher

Download MP3 version of this podcast

About Jessica Lahey (@JessLahey)

Jessica Lahey is an educator, writer, and speaker. She is an English and writing teacher, correspondent for the Atlantic, commentator for Vermont Public Radio, and writes the “Parent-Teacher Conference” column for the New York Times. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. Learn more at JessicaLahey.com

Copyright © 2009–2024 by Annie Fox and Electric Eggplant. All Rights Reserved.