Here are some nice thoughts on failure: Two Types of Failure – The Molloy-verse.
I think we need to fail in order to move forward. Sometimes, what we learn from a failure is much more valuable than what we learn from a success. But paradoxically, we teach our children from a young age that failure is a bad thing. In many industries, failure brings horrific consequences: stigma, job loss, and in nonprofits, loss of grant money. We learn how to avoid failure and how to whitewash failures as successes, rather than reaping the real value from them. And we develop a paralyzing fear of failure that does more than anything to stifle innovation, creativity and risk-taking.
shannon.turlington AT gmail.com 
I believe that if we never scared, embarrassed, hurt or FAIL, It means we never take chances!
I completely agree, Kavita.
One of the areas in which we’ve bastardized our concepts of success and failure is in education. Our focus in this country is grades rather than learning. We all know the reasons why, but it doesn’t change the fact that we dwarf learning, creativity, and innovation by refusing to accept academic failure or even mediocre performance.
We also tend to blame the teachers rather than place accountability – personal accountability – with the students.
(Ties in to your post on “treat adults like adults and you get adults” a bit. Treat students like learners (not multiple choice experts), and you’ll get learners.
I think you’re completely right. We start teaching our children that it’s not acceptable to fail so early that their desire not to fail trumps everything else. We definitely see this when they get into the workforce.