The typical picture of a perfect American family normally includes the traditional white picket fence life, including hard working parents, siblings who never fight, and a sit-down family dinner in the evening where everyone discusses their day. This was considered a way to bond as a family and spend time together after a long busy day. Over the past few years, it seems that the idea of eating a sit-down dinner at the end of the day has become less common. Now, many families barely have time to sit down with our loved ones and reflect on the day. 

When surveyed on Instagram in the beginning of the September, only 62% of people said that they eat sit-down dinners with their families. On the flip-side, 77% of parents said that they would eat a sit down dinner with their families when they were teenagers.

According to an FHS mom, her family, “used to have to dress in church clothes for Sunday dinner in the dining room.”

One student at Freedom High School said that they do not even eat dinner with their family on Christmas. 

Though there’s no specific reason as to why so few teenagers don’t eat dinner with their family, but it could be the growth of competitive culture. Some kids make their own food, some have family members who aren’t normally home during dinner, and others just don’t have the time. Students are normally involved in too many sports to have time in the evening. Also, the heavy workload given to students has made it so that they need to spend all of their time catching up on school and projects. 

Maybe families will eventually find the time to sit down and eat together again, but with how busy people are nowadays, they have to make some real adjustments in our culture to fit the time in.