Why is failure viewed as a bad thing to experience?

It’s been discussed on fluther and other social websites. It’s discussed by parents, in regards to their children. I know some teenagers that are afraid of any form of failure. I have friends that will not allow their children to participate in certain events – to prevent the possibility of failure, which I find completely absurd.

My sister is afraid to fail, at anything. To avoid this, she will not tackle challenging tasks so that she doesn’t have to face failure. She has vowed never to marry again, because her marriage ended in divorced.

I’ve failed at many things; however, I tried to use those failures as tools to improve in the future. I don’t like failing, it sucks – but it’s a part of life.

Why is failure viewed as a bad thing and not as a learning tool? In regards to children, shouldn’t we teach them how to handle failure, not to prevent them from ever experiencing failure? Does failure paralyze you from moving forward?