Friday night my wife Mary, and I took two of our grandsons, age 11and 15, out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Carraba’s. We had a wonderful time. The conversation was stimulating, entertaining, and refreshing, so much so that we spent more than 2 hours having dinner.
About half-way though the dinner 15 year old Luke said, “Grandpar, look at that boy at the table on your right. He is playing or texting on his cell phone during dinner! That’s awful!” I agreed and he went on, still shocked, “He should be taking part in the conversation!”
Now, I know that Luke was not just trying to “butter me up”, as we had spent the week at their home cooking for them and looking after their every need, while their folks were out of the country. Even though he and his brothers have cell phones, they never brought them to the table, and we never had to reprimand them about using phones inappropriately. Over the years we have had many meals at their table and ours, with them and their parents, and enjoyed some great conversation.
The boy in the restaurant, probably around 10 years old, was dinning with two adult women; I assume one was his mother. I had no idea what they were discussing and the sad part is neither did he! And that’s a shame. Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chairman and president of Columbia University’s Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, said, “… preventing America’s drug problem is not going to be accomplished in court rooms, legislative hearing rooms, or classrooms, by judges, politicians, or teachers. It will happen in living rooms and dining rooms and across kitchen tables by the efforts of parents and families.” He might have added restaurant tables, as well, for no matter where a family has its dinner, food nourishes the body, conversation nourishes the mind, and togetherness nourishes the soul. These are things money can’t buy and cell phones or other electronic media can’t provide.
If parents are serious about raising their children to be men and women of character they need to insist they have dinner with them every night, without cell phones, I-pods, TV, newspapers, or other media.
(The above taken, in part, from “Messengers in Denim.”)