William Penn Life, 2005 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2005-09-01 / 9. szám
Charitable Ideas Family Day Special day focuses on the benefits of the (once) traditional family dinner IT HAS OFTEN BEEN SAID that charity begins at home, and few things can be more beneficial for a family than finding ways to help keep children away from drugs and alcohol. In an effort to help children grow up substance free, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University is sponsoring the fifth annual Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children, on Sept. 26,2005. Family Day has become a national effort to encourage parental engagement and increase parent-child communication through the simple act of having dinner together on a regular basis. CASA's research has consistently shown that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink, get drunk or use illegal drugs. Family Day helps remind busy families of the invaluable role that parental involvement plays in keeping children and teens away from cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. "Family Day is all about kids," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., CASA's chairman and president and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. "CASA research reveals that a child who reaches the age of 21 without smoking, using illegal drugs Charity Links For more information about what you, your family, your branch and your community can do to promote the message of Family Day, log onto: O www.casafamilyday.org or abusing alcohol is virtually certain never to do so. Getting families to dine together routinely-and the parental engagement and conversations that goes hand-in-hand with dinner—is a simple, powerful and effective tool to help children and teens remain substance free." According to CASA's annual teen survey, teens who eat dinner with their families six to seven times a week are at almost half the risk of substance abuse as teens who eat dinner with their families twice a week or less. Research also shows that teens who eat dinner with their families often are likelier to do well in school and less likely than other teens to have sex at young ages, get into fights or be suspended from school. Frequent family dining is also correlated with developing healthy eating habits. This holds true regardless of a teen's sex, family structure or family socioeconomic level. What can you and your family do to join this effort?- Start the pattern of family dinners when children are young.- Encourage your children to create menu ideas and participate in meal preparation.- Turn off the TV and let your answering machine answer calls during dinnertime.- Talk about what happened in everyone's day: school, work, extracurricular activities or current events.- Establish a routine to start and end each meal. Light candles, say grace or tell a story.- After dinner play a board game or serve dessert to encourage the family to continue the conversation.- Keep conversation positive and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak, [wpl] Secure your future withaWPA tax-deferred annuity. <» 9-Year 5.25% Surrender Charge Annuity 5-Year 4.75% Surrender Charge Annuity No Surrender Charge Annuity 4.00% For more information about our annuity plans, contact your local WPA representative or our Home Office toll-free at 1-800-848-7366. William Penn Life, September 2005 3
