A while back I read a book called Geography of Bliss [1] which covers the authors attempt to find the happiest country in the world (with statistics etc to back it up) and find out what makes it such a happy place. One of the countries covered is Iceland, and the author explores Iceland's notion that you are a failure if you have not experienced failure for yourself. There is (supposedly - since I am taking this knowledge from a book and not first hand experience) no societal qualms about failing at something, and it is highly encouraged to try and find yourself and what you want to do in life - whether you succeed or not. I think having this mentality allows people to try without worrying about how society might perceive them - not that there aren't risk takers out there (obviously this forum is a grand example of plenty of those people), but you also have a big part of society who would look down on failure, even if it's their own kids, and instead of encouraging them, they tell them they have to succeed at everything they do.
Failure is an option, but do what you can to prevent failure. If you've failed, just learn from your experience and let it make you stronger for the future.
I always thought failure was an important concept to learn, not failure in itself, but failure and the ability to pick yourself up afterwards. I cringe to think about today's kids who are growing up in an environment where failure is foreign, whether that is in sports where no scores are kept or the no fail policy at schools. I can just imagine a generation of kids who will grow up and are perfectly content in their mediocracy.
Iceland did not "fail as a nation." Simply the financial sector was too large a percentage of the economy. When the financial sector collapsed (as it did in the UK as I recall) so did the economy.
Failure is an option, but do what you can to prevent failure. If you've failed, just learn from your experience and let it make you stronger for the future.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Bliss-Grumps-Search-Happiest...