Statistics Can't Help- Response (NoHN)

I am responding to this post.

"As we've been discussing nature vs. nurture in class and whether statistics are reasonable evidence for either side.  The nature side of the debate has more of a advantage because their argument is behind science.  With science, statistics dealing with matters such as brain structure, are more reliable.  However, on the nurture side, statistics aren't as reliable.  How can we actually 100% determine if a parent's guidance effects our development? How can we distinguish between environmental causes and parental?"

As we stated in class, it's almost impossible to distinguish between environmental and parental causes. To do that we would need to get a sample of parents who are willing to not bring up their children in the way that society is used to. However, what I was wondering was if parents could count as environmental factors in the same way that peers are environmental  They can't necessarily push you into a certain direction but they are there to help mold you in a sense.