The Disappearance of Family Time

Courtesy of: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com

There was a time when breakfast, lunch and dinner times were designated for family gatherings. It was an unwritten rule, everyone in the family instinctively gathered together and shared breakfast or lunch or dinner. As the family grew busier, these small gatherings became vital in keeping the family together. However, nowadays, in most family, these gatherings have become a thing of the past.

With the parents at work and the children at school, it becomes harder to see each other and most families are not as close as they should be. In many cases families believe that vacations, family outings are the solutions to the degradation of family time. In the long run though, compulsory dinnertime is the best method of ensuring that the family spends at least some time once a day together.

 The irony is that phones, laptops and other gadgets that are meant to bring us closer together are in fact hindering physical interaction. It is not unsurprising these days to find a family that has no connection to each other, the siblings do not talk, the parents have no idea what's happening in the lives of their children, and this is the norm. Eventually members of the family become strangers to each other, connected only by blood.

In response to this degradation, some families have imposed strict rules about dinnertime. Firstly that everyone's presents is required at the dinnertime; no phones, no televisions are permitted and that everyone must talk about their day. It sounds tedious but the effects of these gatherings can be seen as time progresses. Family dynamics are important in molding children, and are examples of how communities operate on a smaller scale, thus if even families no longer have time for each other, what does that say about our society?