Proverbs 22:6

This is a proverb, and proverbs are general principles, not contractual guarantees. The distinction matters: parents who raised their children well and still watched them take hard paths do not need to carry the guilt a rigid reading of this verse produces.

The phrase translated "in the way he should go" has an interesting sense in Hebrew: it can indicate the way appropriate to that child — their manner, their bent. On that reading, raising a child is not standardizing; it is observing the actual child and guiding them from who they are.

The verb "train" also carries the idea of dedicating, initiating, giving someone their first taste — as if training a palate.

The promise is long-term: "when he is old he will not depart from it". That is, the effect of the formation received in childhood usually shows up at the end of the story, not in the middle. It is a text of hope for parents halfway through.