British children facing failure fears

J.K Rowling was rejected twelve times by publishers and Richard Branson had many failed businesses before he struck gold – some of the most successful people on the planet have stumbled before finding their success. Despite this, many British children are not pursuing their dreams because they fear failure.

New research released today by Robinsons Fruit Shoot will show that over half (57%) of children aged 4 -12 years have a fear of failure. As a result, this fear is causing children to actively avoid (65%) or quit (62%) activities that they think they’re not good at, with 43% worrying about what friends or family will think of them.

Sadly, 80% of children in the UK already worry about ‘not being good enough’ before they’ve even reached their teenage years.With the increasing academic pressure young people face at school, the same number (80%) worry about failing tests or competitions.

Aston spoke to Dr Amanada Gummer to discuss how important dreaming big and failing fearlessly is to a child’s development and future happiness, and how we can help kids adopt this fearless attitude.