if kids are to accept failure then they must be given room to fail. Your average highschool student wanting to go to a good university cannot accept any failure. Bomb a single test and your math grade will slip from the 98% that assures acceptance and the 95% that doesn't. The grade inflation needs to stop.

My unpopular answer: more standardized testing. Don't grade homework. Don't grade the science projects. Grade only those things done by the student alone in an exam room. I know that doesn't remove all parental influence, but at least then the parents aren't the ones holding pen to the paper.