Posted on 09/26/2006 7:58:14 AM PDT by Salvation
Study: Family Time Around the Table Good for Teens' Development (AgapePress) -- President Bush, governors, and more than 500 communities have declared and are celebrating "Family Day" today, a new annual campaign on each fourth Monday in September that calls for a family meal. The effort is backed by results of an ongoing eight-year survey of teens showing a reduced risk of alcohol, drug, and cigarette use for those who are part of family dinners three or more times a week. The definitive information comes from an annual poll of 12- to 17-year-olds conducted by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse -- or CASA. The survey of children in that age group consistently shows a link between family meals and lowered risk of smoking, alcohol abuse, and drug use. Teens who ate with their family three or less times a week were more at risk, while those who ate five to seven times a week with their kin received the maximum benefit -- relief from the primary risk factors of stress, boredom, and pressure of academic demands in school.
"Our research has shown that if you get a child through age 21 without smoking, without using illegal drugs, and without abusing alcohol -- most will drink something -- that child is virtually certain to be home-free for the rest of his or her life." Califano says the campaign is not just an opportunity to point out that family is a good thing. "We now have substantial scientific data to demonstrate how important family dinners are to raising a child who is going to be a child who will grow up drug-free, hopefully alcohol-free, and tobacco-free through that difficult decade from [age] ten to twenty," he notes. The CASA leader also strongly recommends families turn off the television during their time together at the table. The national campaign to draw families closer through returning to meals together is the brainchild of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, with the help of the supermarket and restaurant industries. Copyright © 2006 AgapePress -- All rights reserved.
By Ed Thomas
AgapePress
September 26, 2006
We used to do this all the time. I think it is more difficult for families to arrange these days. But just one evening a month?
Except Mr M is working, one kid is at practice and I'm volunteering. Sorry, but today's families don't have the traditional M-F 9-5 days. How about the goobernuts doing what I hired them to do and keep their noses out of my family.
It is difficult to have family meals these days, no question about it.
That does not mean that it is a bad idea. Certainly a daily gathering of a family around the table is a very good idea. That's how I grew up, back in the 1950s, and both of my parents worked, too.
It was a rule in my parent's house. Everyone showed up at the dinner table, unless there was a very, very good reason. Events were not scheduled to conflict with that time. Practises and other such things did not take place between 5 and 7 PM. Nothing at school or church was scheduled for those hours.
So, at 5:30 PM every day, we all sat down to dinner, prepared by my mother. Along with eating, everyone participated in conversation around the table, generally about the day's events. I learned what my brother and sister were doing. I heard stories about my father's work, and my mother told us about her day.
It was the time when we discussed a weekend trip or plans for the Summer vacation. There were jokes, gentle teasing, and lots of smiles. There was no TV on in the background, or any other interruption. If the phone rang, it rang, but was not answered. Whoever it was would call back.
After dinner, my little brother cleared the table and my sister and I washed the dishes. After that, if there was some choir practice or a visit to a friend's house, that was fine.
But mealtime was sacrosanct. We all benefitted from it, in ways that are hard to measure.
Yes, it may be harder today than it used to be, but it's still possible. It's a good idea, and one that will definitely benefit every member of the family.
Well said. One of my biggest peeves is the phone ringing during dinner time. It used to be we'd answer it, say we're eating and we will call back when we're finished, but some people just don't listen, so I prefer to not answer anymore.
I guess my family is lucky. We eat dinner together every night. It's just a priority. Maybe 3 times a year someone will have to miss it, but they have to have a real good reason.
Yup. The phone ringing during meals is very annoying. It used to be a rare thing, at least back when I was a kid. It was sort of an unspoken rule and most people would not call during the dinner hour.
There was no telemarketing back then, either.
Since my wife and I are looking after her mother's welfare these days, since my father-in-law recently died, we always answer the phone now, regardless of the time. But, that's something new.
"I guess my family is lucky. We eat dinner together every night. It's just a priority."
That's excellent, I think. It's too easy to let stuff get in the way of what is the most important thing of all...family. It is around the table that families grow close. I really believe that strongly.
Making family meals a priority is just plain good parenting, in my opinion.
I'm in total support of this view, if everyone took this seriously instead of continually supporting the dumbing down of society there's not a single person that wouldn't benefit, I always have the family round the table to eat at least four or five times a week.
Having the whole family sitting down to eat together was the norm here in the UK 30/40 years ago now it's all going to pot!!...
A lot of people claim that it's impossible to get the family together around the table. Too many activities, etc., seems to be the most common excuse.
For me, it sounds like it just isn't a priority for those families. It's not so hard, really. It just has to be a rule in the household. If that rule is established early, when children are small, then it's easy enough to maintain it later.
What seems to happen is that kids get to be teenagers and always want to be doing something else. Too bad for them, my father would have said. At dinner time, they should be sitting at the table, he would have continued.
Parents seem not to be able to say "No" to their offspring any longer. Yes, the parents are tired after coming home from work. Both of my parents worked, too, and I'm sure they were tired. But, for them, raising a family was the prime goal, and they took that goal seriously.
Sure, when I was 16, I would have much preferred taking my girlfriend somewhere for a hamburger than to sit at the family table, but that was simply not happening.
Even more than that, simple stuff like my sister and I always doing the dishes helped make my relationship with her a close one. Even my little brother, who was a real PITA, since he was 5 years younger than I, formed a good relationship with me, partly at the dinner table and partly doing chores with me.
Kids don't need to be busy round the clock. There's always time to sit down for an hour with the family...IF the family makes it a priority.
It's a pity that has lost its appeal to a lot of parents, who then make lame excuses about it. If it's a priority, you make it work.
I made my family do trivia at supper times. They didn't like it much, but they learned a LOT over the course of 7 years and about 8 trivial pursuit decks and several trivia books ;)
Kids are sharp as a whip now.
Tough love ;)
I like you Sunday night plan. God bless.
Sorry that you don't have those priorities.
I always thought it was
God
family
Country
job
Then ---- all the other stuff.
I was mad because TV Land took off Good Times from 5-6 and instead had a slideshow of families eating together.
From another thread:
**Mother Knows Best!**
LOL! And surprisingly it worked with my children too!
They always tell me they remember all the times we would be sitting at the dinner table and talking about something or laughing at something that someone had said. My husband was a punster, so we always had something to laugh about!
Back to the subject. God bless all those families, military and civilian who decide to eat together every night or like the article suggested even once a month.
I don't answer either.
That is wonderful. I can tell it is very important to you! What a great foundation for family rearing your children are getting!
Hang in there and get your family around the table. Thanks for sharing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.