SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
RENO, Nev. — On Sept. 27, 2010, Tune In To Kids invites parents to pledge to eat with their family and find out how surprisingly powerful dinner can be. Benefits include: Builds better communication, gets kids involved, makes dinner fun, builds good routines, makes time to reconnect, and strengthens family connections.
“We urge parents to arrange their schedules and activities so they can have frequent family dinners. By doing so, they’ll discover dinner is one way to connect and be involved with what’s happening in their lives.” said Heidi Hurst, president of Tune In To Kids. “A great way to start this routine is by pledging to eat together on Sept. 27.”
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University’s Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM, sponsored by Stouffers is a national movement launched in 2001 that promotes the parental engagement and communication fostered during frequent family dinners as a simple, effective way to prevent substance abuse in kids. More than a decade of CASA research has consistently found that the more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs. Family Day’s 10th Anniversary will be celebrated across the country on September 27th, 2010 and what began as a small grassroots initiative, is expected to once again be proclaimed and supported by the President, all 50 U.S. Governors, countless Mayors and County Managers.
Tune In To Kids shares these secrets to successful family dinners:
- Encourage your children to create menu ideas and participate in meal preparation
- Turn off electronics: TV, Cell phone, iTouch, Video game and Computer
- Talk about what happened in everyone’s day: school, work, extracurricular activities or current events. Keep conversation positive and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak
- Establish a routine to start and end each meal. Light candles or tell a story
To learn more about Family Day, log on to www.Facebook.com/TuneInToKids, www.CASAFamilyDay.org or www.LetsFixDinner.com.
