Will Ferrell’s darkly funny DeviceFreeDinner ads on behalf of the nonprofit organisation Common Sense Media highlights a common social problem. This campaign is a latest in a series encouraging people to use their phones less at dinner. Via the Washington Post:
The group, which has done extensive research into how devices affect kids and families, decided to focus on family dinner because it found that many families struggle over whether smartphones and other devices should be allowed at the table. A new survey from the group, released with the PSA, found more than half of parents or guardians said they’re concerned about technology at the table taking away from dinner. Thirty-five percent said they’d had an argument about using devices at the dinner table.
Despite those concerns, 47 percent said that they or a family member had recently taken a device with them to dinner. Nineteen percent said they keep their tech on the table while they eat — which has been shown to disrupt conversations even when the devices aren’t in use. And families are, overall, happy about the effects of technology: Sixty-one percent said they feel it brings them together.
That paints a complicated picture, said Michael Robb, director of research at Common Sense. “Clearly they’re struggling with this internally,” he said. “It feels like they’re torn on how to modernize these family moments.”
Family dinners were an obvious place to focus on, Robb said, because they’re already a place for conversation and personal connection. Studies have suggested that family meals are important for developing vocabulary as well as ideas about nutrition. Others have shown that kids who have dinner with their families are less prone to acting out or substance abuse.