Department of Human Services

For Immediate Release: 9/23/02

For more information: Gilbert Sudbeck, 773-3123

Janklow Proclaims fourth Monday in September as Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children

South Dakota communities have an opportunity to recognize how family activities, such as mealtime with your youth, can play in reducing teen substance abuse risk, Gov. Bill Janklow said.  The Governor has proclaimed the fourth Monday in September as Family Day—A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children. 

"Family Day--A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children" is a national effort to promote parental engagement as a simple, effective way to reduce youth substance abuse risk and raise healthier children. Family Day is meant to emphasize the importance of family activities as a way to facilitate parent-child communication and encourage Americans to make family dinners a feature of their lives. 

In 2001, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University launched Family Day as an annual event, which takes place on the fourth Monday of each September, the 23rd in 2002. 

The 2000 Teen Survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University revealed that being a "hands-on" parent  who is involved in a teen's life can significantly lower the teen's substance abuse risk, regardless of family structure.

Celebrating Family Day is as simple as eating dinner with your children and engaging in other family activities. "Hands-on" parents consistently take at least nine of the following 12 actions: 

1.  Eat dinner with their teen most every night;
2.  Turn off the TV during dinner;
3.  Make clear they would be "extremely upset" if their teen used pot;
4.  Expect to be and are told the truth by their teen about where they really are going in evenings or on weekends;
5.  Know where their teen is after school and on weekends;
6.  Are "very aware" of their teen's academic performance;
7.  Monitor what their teen watches on TV;
8.  Put restrictions on the music CDs their teen buys;
9.  Monitor their teen's internet usage;
10. Impose a weekend curfew; assign their teen regular chores; and
11. Have an adult present when the teen returns from school. 

Other family activities that can reduce the risk that a teen will use drugs, alcohol or cigarettes include: 

• Helping teens with homework.   
• Attending religious services with teens and making religion an important part of their lives.   
• Praising and disciplining teens when their behavior merits it.   
• Sending a clear message of disapproval to teens about the use of cigarettes, alcohol or illegal drugs. 

According to the 2001 South Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey Report of respondents 32% had drank alcohol prior to age 13, 50% reported having at least one alcoholic drink during the past 30 days, and 36% had 5 or more alcoholic drinks in a row during the past 30 days.  Furthermore, 36% of the respondents had used marijuana at lease once and 8% reported using cocaine and methamphetamines.  This report is a compilation of surveys completed and received by 22 of the 25 sampled schools with an overall student response rate of 73%.

Advice on how to talk to your teen about drugs is available in the "Parent Power" section of "FYI--Family and Youth Information" on CASA's website. www.casacolumbia.org. Or visit the South Dakota Division of Drug and Alcohol online at www.state.sd.us/dhs/ADA for resource information. 

For more resource information and assistance contact: Dodi Haug, Northeastern Prevention Resource Center (Human Services Agency) in Watertown @ (605) 886-0123, Melinda Olson, Southeastern Prevention Resource Center (Volunteers of America-Dakotas-Turning Point) in Sioux Falls @ (605) 335-6474, or Chris Bolton, Western Prevention Resource Center (Youth and Family Services) in Rapid City @ 342-1593.