While I have little doubt that it is the experiences of a child as it grows up that mould the person it one day becomes, I fail to see how the parent, while substantiating a sizeable portion of this experience, can be seen as the sole source of influence.
The fact is that a child comes into contact with a multitude of external forces (that is if we consider those of the parents as internal). A child learns as much on the playground as it does at home. In fact there are things that it can only learn on the playground, that can only be experienced through interaction with beings not of its own blood, through events over which its parents have no control. For example, its is here that the child will learn the great majority of what will become its concept of social interaction, lessons that will affect how it goes about communicating with others for the rest of its life. Aside from this there are the obvious limitless influences of the media, art and education.
The parent cannot exert a totalitarian influence over the child, no matter how hard they try. There will always be external influences. Furthermore, the parent should not try to exert such influence or the child will never be allowed to fully develop. The parent is a guide, not an overlord.