Call the teens, it's dinnertime

It's 6 o'clock," Mom shouts. Time to wash your hands and get ready for ... soccer practice. Or piano lessons. Or gymnastics.

That's the evening norm in many American households today, where parents are more likely to shuffle their kids into a seat in the minivan than to the dinner table.

Thirty percent fewer families come together for dinner today than did 20 years ago, and fewer than 15 percent of today's American families eat supper regularly (five to seven times per week).

It's no wonder; families are tugged in dozens of directions these days. Even the most conscientious parents sometimes load kids into the car during dinner hour with a juice box and pizza slice in hand - or allow their teens to skip supper night after night.

But a recent survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) might make parents think twice.

According to the survey (www.casacolumbia.org), teenagers are particularly vulnerable to skipped suppers. CASA found, for example, that teens from families who eat dinner together were less likely to use illegal drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes than teenagers who rarely eat dinner with parents.

"It's a tragedy," says Joseph Califano Jr., chairman and president of CASA, "that family dinners decline during the teen years - just when kids need them most."

When talking about substance abuse, Mr. Califano doesn't fool around. The former US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, calls it "the No. 1 disease in this country and the No. 1 reason for the breakup of families."

Califano has even gone so far as to initiate a national event to publicize the link between substance abuse and family suppers: Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children, on the fourth Monday in September each year. This year, Family Day falls on Sept. 22. [Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly stated on which Monday in September Family Day falls each year.]

Of course, Califano hopes families will do more than share a pot of spaghetti once a year. But by making a fuss over a specific date, and with President Bush and celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis plugging his event, he wants to clue in parents to their ability to make a difference.

"Parent power is the most effec- tive way to deal with this," he says. "If parents are engaged with their kids, it can have tremendous impact."

While no one wants to quibble with the importance of family dinners, some feel they aren't always the best venue - or the only one - for parents to engage with their kids. Parents might be too busy policing manners, playing referee amid interruptions, or sopping up spilled juice.

Page: 1 | 2