There is a popular verse in the Bible that says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he grows, he wouldn't depart" This simply means that the parent is the primary caregiver and a child's first teacher, but why is it that even with the right teaching, discipline and even extra care given to some children, they still go astray? I've seen this happen too often, for example, a pastor's child leading a wayward life, and shockingly though might not be too often seen, it happens, a child raised by a wayward and careless parent still grows up as a responsible adult, then the question raises, who's responsibility it is to train a child so that don't become vices to the society.

I believe just like I introduced, anyone committed to bringing a child into the world, should also be committed to training that child right, because I believe every child comes as a blank slate, and only adopt/learn what they see daily while growing up, especially people who they are often around with and that includes most importantly the parent. Have you ever seen a child talking and you can't help but be amazed because all you see is either the mom, dad, or the combination of both parents in that child, children learn by what I refer to as the "copy and paste method". Before I became a parent myself, there were some words I could throw away casually, just for the fun of it, especially when I'm with my close friends, but the day I heard my two years old daughter call her dad an insulting but playful word me and my friend do call ourselves, which goes way back to right when we were in secondary school, that is when I realized, I need to be conscious and filter the words I speak not just in my child's presence but adopt this new way of life as well for my child's sake. Imagine if she had called a visitor or stranger that if I hadn't cautioned her, the same goes for every aspect of discipline.

Parents are their child's first role models, and who is a role model, a role model is someone we look up to, admire, and want to be like, that being said no parent should take for granted the place of training and disciplining their child right.

The role of the society

Of course, the child doesn't remain at home forever and would always have to socialize with friends, family, and even strangers, gone are those days when, as children, we were scared to act inappropriately both outside and at home because we knew that there would be an aunt or uncle nearby to take discipline into their hands before reporting us to our parent, who also will continue from where they stopped, but these days, parent have become Genz, and would even go the extra length to sue a child's teacher for disciplining a child that went out of the way, yes, the parent has the full right to discipline a child the way they want, but they can't always be with the child, so yes, the society which includes, the teacher neighbor friends also should take that role of correcting a child that misbehaves, not in a harsh way, and should always go further to lay a complaint to the parent so they can take it up from there.

The role of the child

And lastly, every human has the right to choice, the parent and the society can try their best and the child can still decide to go astray, so it is also a child's responsibility to heed these teachings, inside of their heart, they know what is good and bad, the truth is if a child chose either the wrong or right way, the consequences of their choice will still befall them. In conclusion, everyone has a role to play.