Today, while I was at the salon washing my hair, I witnessed something that has stayed with me.

A little girl was supposed to thank the salon owner for something. I don't know exactly what it was, but I remember her mother asking her, "What are you supposed to say again?"

"Thank you," the little girl replied, and was already making her way out.

Her mother called her back. "Come back and say it properly."

This time, the little girl returned, bent slightly and said her thank you before leaving.

"Now, that's better," The mother said

I mean, how do you tell someone thank you while already making your way out?

After they left, the salon owner made a comment that got me thinking. She said something along the lines of, "If you have a disciplinarian in your life, it's a good thing. These days, mothers are failing."

And just like that, I found myself questioning something.

Are mothers really failing? What about fathers? Are parents failing collectively? Or have children become increasingly difficult to teach?

Could it be that parents are doing their best to instil certain values, but the children are refusing to receive them? Or has the world changed so much that the methods of upbringing that once worked are no longer as effective?

I also began to wonder whether we are too quick to blame parents for the behaviour of their children without considering the other influences that come with growing up.

After all, a child doesn't remain under the watchful eyes of their parents forever. They meet people, make friends, encounter different environments and eventually begin to form opinions and make decisions of their own.

So, when a child turns out differently from what they were taught, who takes the blame?

The parents who raised them? The child who refused to learn? The society that influenced them? Or perhaps a little bit of everyone?

I don't have an answer yet. But one thing is certain: raising a child goes beyond teaching them what to say. It's also about teaching them when, why and how to say it.

And I wonder, in a world where everyone seems to have an opinion about how children should be raised, who exactly is getting it right?