The evening event takes place among many families almost every week. Parents return from work and everyone gathers around the table to share a meal and tell each other about their day.

Even for families who do not regularly eat together, the upcoming holidays are the perfect time for people to gather around the table and converse about their friends, the day?s happenings, conflicts and issues. This emphasizes family relationships according to Spencer Lee?s Nov. article, Thanksgiving emphasizes family relationships.

“I like to visit with my brother during the holidays,” Sophia Cook, ?10, said. “I only get to see him about twice a year, because he lives in Boulder, Colorado.”

Besides the obvious benefits of nutrition, studies by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) found that teenagers who eat with their families more than three times a week do better in school than those who eat infrequent dinners with their family.

Many students and children find advice and insight from their parents about the problems they face during the day.

“My parents always give me advice while we eat dinner,? Ryan Aydelotte, ?10, said. ?Their advice really helps me throughout the day at school.?

The family dinner table provides a place where parents can promote family values and unity. The only way teenagers and children will benefit, experts say, is to engage each other in conversation with distractions, such as the television, off.

?My family watches television while we eat,? Aaron Kroeker, ?10, said. ?I know we shouldn?t because it often distracts us from the conversation.?

A recent Nov. campus poll taken by 207 high school students shows that 67% of the students eat 4-7 meals with their families a week, while the remaining 33% eats 1-4 meals with their family per week

According to another study conducted by CASA, evidence showed that adolescents who ate less than two meals per week with their families were more likely to smoke, drink and do drugs than those who ate 5-7 meals a week.

Traditionally, gathering around the table as a family is a time for one to learn about their family and relatives better, as well as become better acquainted with the daily lives and happenings of their family members.

Students often recall funny events that have happened at their table.

“Whle we were eating one night, I said a funny joke,” Mike Wilson, ’11, said. “My brother laughed so hard his milk came out of his nose.”

For more information, visit CASA?s Sept. article, The Importance of Family Dinners IV.