View Full Version : TV Land and Nick@Nite Announce Family Day Pledge


Pavan
06-13-2005, 06:18 PM
MAKE THE PLEDGE!

TV LAND AND NICK AT NITE LAUNCH FAMILY DAY PLEDGE PAGE WITH GOAL OF
REGISTERING 10 MILLION PARTICIPANTS

TV Land & Nick At Nite's Family Table Partnering With The National Center On
Addiction And Substance Abuse (CASA) At Columbia University To Celebrate
Family Day On Monday, September 26

Santa Monica, CA, June 13, 2005 - TV Land and Nick at Nite's Family Table:
Share More Than Meals - Classic TV's very first pro-social initiative - has
teamed up with The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA)
at Columbia University to celebrate Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with
Your Children on Monday, September 26, 2005. Starting Thursday, May 26,
people committed to eating together on Family Day can go to FamilyTable.info
to register participation for their family, friends and loved ones.

CASA's Family Day, which was created in 2001, is a national effort designed
to promote the benefits that come from families dining together regularly.
A decade of CASA research has consistently shown that the more often
children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke,
drink or use illegal drugs. Together, CASA and The Family Table have set a
goal of registering 10 million Americans to pledge to have dinner as a
family on September 26th and, hopefully, use Family Day as a catalyst to
make family dinners a regular part of their lives.

TV Land & Nick at Nite's Family Table: Share More Than Meals was created by
the two networks in 2003 and seeks to remind its viewers about the emotional
and social benefits that come from taking the time to sit down and share
with one another. Through a series of promotional spots - which both
networks air in regular rotation daily - TV Land and Nick at Nite have
committed over $11 million in on-air time annually to encourage viewers to
experience the benefits of dining together.

"TV Land and Nick at Nite's Family Table is honored to support CASA in its
efforts to make Family Day a priority for everyone," explains Larry W.
Jones, President, TV Land & Nick at Nite. "I think we all can relate to the
barriers that keep us away from the dinner table, whether it's working late,
travel, soccer practice, you name it. We at TV Land and Nick at Nite also
face those challenges, so this year, we hope to encourage 10 million people
to visit our FamilyTable.info website to register to participate in Family
Day. Our hope is that everyone will use that day as a catalyst to dine
together more frequently and enjoy the benefits that come from family
dining."


"Enlisting 10 million people to pledge to have dinner together on Family Day
is a most ambitious undertaking," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman and
President of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at
Columbia University and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare. "TV Land & Nick at Nite are the perfect partners to help remind
Americans of the importance of family dinners. Their commitment to
pro-social family values will help CASA spread the message that reviving the
family dinner in America will do more to keep kids drug free than any law or
public health campaign."

TV Land, Nick at Nite and all related logos and titles are trademarks of
Viacom International, Inc.

Pavan
09-13-2005, 07:48 PM
CASA* AND TV LAND/NICK AT NITE REPORT SHOWS FREQUENT FAMILY DINNERS CUT TEENS' SUBSTANCE ABUSE RISK IN HALF

Teens Who Have Frequent Family Dinners Also Likelier to Get Better Grades in School

Teens and Their Parents Desire More Frequent Family Dinners

NEW YORK, September 13, 2005 - How often a family eats dinner together is a powerful indicator of whether a teen is likely to smoke, drink or use drugs and whether the teen is likely to perform better academically, according to a new report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University and sponsored by TV Land and Nick at Nite's Family Table. The study - The Importance of Family Dinners II - also reveals that teens and their parents wish they could have dinner together more often. Findings in The Importance of Family Dinners II draw from CASA's 10th annual back-to-school survey, conducted earlier this year.

This year, 58 percent of teens report having dinner with their families at least five times a week, a substantial increase from the 47 percent of teens having five or more family dinners in a typical week in 1998, when CASA first measured the relationship between family dinners and teen substance abuse risk. In those families that have fewer than three dinners in a typical week, however, more than half of teens and virtually all parents desire more frequent family dinners.

Family Dinners and Teen Smoking, Drinking, Drug Use
Frequent family dining is associated with lower rates of teen smoking, drinking and drug use. Compared to teens who have five or more family dinners per week, those who have two or less are:
* Three times likelier to try marijuana;
* Two and a half times likelier to smoke cigarettes;
* More than one and a half times likelier to drink alcohol.

Teens who dine infrequently with their families are also likelier to have friends who use drugs. Compared to teens who have five or more family dinners per week, those who have two or less are:
* Three times likelier to report that half or more of their friends use marijuana;
* Twice as likely to know a friend or classmate who uses Ecstasy;
* Nearly 80 percent likelier to know a friend or classmate who abuses prescription drugs;
* Forty percent likelier to know a friend or classmate who uses acid, cocaine or heroin.

"There are no silver bullets - unfortunately, the tragedy of a child's substance abuse can strike any family; but one factor that does more to reduce teens' substance abuse risk than almost any other is parental engagement, and one of the simplest and most effective ways for parents to be engaged in their teens' lives is by having frequent family dinners," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA's chairman and president and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. "If I could wave a magic wand to make a dent in the substance abuse problem, I would make sure that every child in America had dinner with his or her parents at least five times a week," said Califano. "There is no more important thing a parent can do. Parental engagement in children's lives is the key to ridding our nation of the scourge of substance abuse."

"The benefits that come from family dining are endless," states Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick at Nite. "This study, once again, shows us the emotional and social benefits that come from taking the time to sit down and share a meal as a family. From lessening the risk of substance abuse to increasing the likelihood of academic success, this is a serious wake-up call to parents across the country to make the time and to stay engaged."

Family Dinners and Academic Performance
Teens who have frequent family dinners are likelier to get better grades in school, and higher academic performance is associated with lower substance abuse risk.

Teens who have dinner with their families seven times a week are almost 40 percent likelier to say they receive mostly A's and B's in school compared to teens who have dinner with their families two or fewer times a week, and this is associated with lower substance abuse risk: Teens who typically receive grades of C or lower are at twice the risk of substance abuse as those receiving all A's or mostly A's and B's.

What's Going On At The Family Dinner Table
This report's findings paint a picture of infrequent family dinners as lower-quality dinners: Compared to teens who have five or more family dinners per week, teens who have fewer than three family dinners per week are likelier to say that they dine with the television on, their families talk little during dinner, and their family dinners do not last long enough.

* Teens who dine with their families fewer than three times per week are 32 percent likelier to dine with the television on, compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week.
* Teens who dine with their families fewer than three times per week are almost one and one -half times likelier to say there is not much talking at the dinner table, compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week.
* Teens who dine with their families fewer than three times per week are more than twice as likely to say that their family dinners do not last long enough, compared to teens who have five to seven family dinners per week.

Topics that most teens say they discuss at the family table include: school and sports (86 percent), friends and social activities (76 percent) current events (63 percent) and family issues or problems (58 percent). Topics that most teens wish they could honestly discuss with their parents during mealtime include: religious matters (51 percent) and curfews (51 percent). A substantial number of teens would also like to talk with their parents about peer pressure (44 percent), dating (42 percent) and substance abuse (38 percent).

Family Relationships and Mealtime
More than one in four teens live in households where families share frequent dinners, say their parents are very or fairly proud of them, have low levels of tension or stress at home, and have a parent in whom they can confide. These teens are at half the substance abuse risk of the average teen.

* Nearly 70 percent of teens who eat dinner with their parents five to seven times a week say that their parents are very proud of them, compared to 48 percent of teens who have family dinners two times a week or less.
* Nearly one in five teens who have family dinners two times a week or less report that there is a great deal of tension or stress at home between family members, compared to seven percent of teens who have at least five family dinners per week.
* Teens who have frequent family dinners are likelier than those who have infrequent family dinners to say they would turn to one or both of their parents if they had a serious problem. Teens who can confide in their parents are at much lower risk for substance abuse than teens who would confide in another adult or who have no adult in whom to confide.

"This nation's drug problem is all about kids. A child who gets through age 21 without smoking, abusing alcohol or using illegal drugs is virtually certain never to do so. America's drug problem is not going to be solved in courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms or classrooms, by judges, politicians or teachers. It will be solved in living rooms and dining rooms and across kitchen tables - by parents and families," Califano concluded.

QEV Analytics conducted The National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse X: Teen and Parents for CASA from April 7 through June 4. The firm interviewed at home by telephone 1,000 teens (503 boys, 497 girls) and 829 parents (282 of whom were parents of interviewed teens). Sampling error is +/-3.1 percent for teens, +/-3.4 percent for parents.

CASA and TV Land and Nick at Nite's Family Table: Share More Than Meals - Classic TV's very first pro-social initiative - are encouraging Americans to commit to eating dinner together as a family on Family Day - A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children on Monday, September 26, 2005. Visit www.FamilyTable.info to pledge to have dinner as a family on Family Day. CASA developed Family Day in 2001 as a national effort to promote parental engagement as a simple, effective way to reduce youth substance abuse and raise healthier children. For more information, visit www.CASAFamilyDay.org.

TV Land & Nick at Nite's Family Table: Share More Than Meals was created by the two networks in 2003 and seeks to remind its viewers about the emotional and social benefits that come from taking the time to sit down and share with one another. Through a series of promotional spots - which both networks air in regular rotation daily - TV Land and Nick at Nite have committed over $11 million in on-air time annually to encourage viewers to experience the benefits of dining together.
TV Land, Nick at Nite and all related logos and titles are trademarks of Viacom International, Inc.