Remember: "Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray." (Prov 22:6 NRSV)
FYI, that translation and that of just about every other translation is woefully inaccurate. A literal translation of the Hebrew is: "Train up a child after the manner of his own way and when he becomes old he won't depart from it." Put more succinctly, let a child have his way and he will grow up with the same attitude for his entire life, demanding that everyone bow to his ideas.
Pilgrim, that's a novel viewpoint on the verse I'd never heard or read. I find a couple translations that seemingly, could be read that way:
"Give instruction to a youth about his way, Even when he is old he turneth not from it." (Prov 22:6 YLT)
"It is a proverb: A young man according to his way, even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov 22:6 Douay-Rheims)
The translator's note in the NET Bible is interesting -
"The expression in Hebrew is עַל־פִּי דַּרְכּוֹ (’al-pi darko), which can be rendered “according to his way”; NEB “Start a boy on the right road.” The expression “his way” is “the way he should go”; it reflects the point the book of Proverbs is making that there is a standard of life to which he must attain. Saadia, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 882-942, first suggested that this could mean the child should be trained according to his inclination or bent of mind. This may have some merit in practice, but it is not likely what the proverb had in mind. In the book of Proverbs there are only two ways that a person can go, the way of the wise or righteousness, and the way of the fool. One takes training, and the other does not. Ralbag, in fact, offered a satirical interpretation: “Train a child according to his evil inclinations (let him have his will) and he will continue in his evil way throughout life” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 234). C. H. Toy says the expression means “in accordance with the manner of life to which he is destined (Proverbs [ICC], 415). W. McKane says, “There is only one right way – the way of life – and the educational discipline which directs young men along this way is uniform” (Proverbs [OTL], 564). This phrase does not describe the concept perpetuated by a modern psychological interpretation of the verse: Train a child according to his personality trait."
"Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (Prov 22:6 NET2.1)
