Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children

WHEREAS, the use of illegal and prescription drugs and the abuse of alcohol and nicotine constitute the greatest threats to the well-being of America’s children; and

WHEREAS, 17 years of surveys conducted by The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University have consistently found that the more often children and teenagers eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs; and

WHEREAS, frequent family dining is associated with lower rates of teen smoking, drinking, illegal drug use and prescription drug abuse; and

WHEREAS, the correlation between frequent family dinners and the reduced risk for teen substance abuse is well documented; and

WHEREAS, parents who are engaged in their children’s lives, through activities like frequent family dinners, are less likely to have children who abuse substances; and

WHEREAS, family dinners have long constituted a substantial pillar of family life in America:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim the fourth Monday of every September as

Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children

in the state of the Alabama, and urge all Alabamians to recognize and participate in its observance.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 1st day of August 2012.

      

Governor Robert Bentley