The demise of the family dinner has been forecast since at least the 1950's, when TV dinners and tables became popular. So we were a little surprised that NPR brought the subject up again in "Family Dinner: Treasured Tradition or Bygone Ideal." But we wanted to hear if they said anything new.
Well, kind of. As a result of a poll, they claim that "despite families ranking a family meal as a high priority, about half of children live in a home where, on a given night, families don't sit down together to eat or share the same food." That's not a surprise, nor is it a surprise that the family dinner is a high priority.
What was a bit of a surprise, however, is that they feel that the family dinner may be over rated. Since distraction is a way of life, especially given the presence of technology, the quality of the family dinner may not be high. There may indeed be other ways to create that same quality time and just surrender to reality.
That may be true, but we're sceptical. Even if quality time can be substituted, a family dinner offers other benefits: nutritional training, teaching cooking skills, cultivating a taste for a variety of foods, and - last, but not least - it's still one of the best ways to say "I care."
7 comments
krusso119
NPR is a well known liberal mouthpiece. And "liberal" in this country isnow just a code word for communism.. Witness all the Hollywood idiots and government officials actually mourning the death of Hugo Chavez, a communist dictator.
The truth hurts, doesn't it kenny?
krusso119
Um, really? How about setting rules that include "no electronic "distractions" at the dinner table?
OK, I admit that my family doesn't sit down to dinner together every night - the realities of a busy child who plays two sports often get in the way of that. But I do my best to make sure we DO have dinner together several times a week, I think it's very important to do.
And if people are going to just "surrender to reality" than exactly where and how are those OTHER suppsoed "quality times" going to take place?
NPR seems to be trying to spread the message that families and family time are overrated and that is a very scary message indeed. You know who else tried to undermine the importance of families and family time? Yeah, communists, that's who.
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/section3.rhtml
Jane
sir_ken_g
Move away - move slowly away from that hate channel....DUH.
sir_ken_g
How did Myth do again?
Christine
sir_ken_g
Shooting the messenger does not work.
As they point out - distractions like cell phones, gameboys and all the rest.
Another is that there seem to be many more extra curricular activities for kids than tier were years ago. I know my kid had about 20 hours a week in high school - that's a lot.
Another I suspect is more women working out side the home - often due to economic necessity. Who shall we blame for that?
I see no moral or religious explanations - nobody has a corner on good there. In fact those nasty old commies improved the average standard of living and longevity in Cuba and Venezuela a lot!