When we do get together,” says senior Alanna Morici, “It is a huge event.”
No, she is not talking about going out with friends or cheering for football with fellow Dulanians. She is talking about having dinner with her family.   
   The latest study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University shows that teens who eat dinner with their family fewer than three times a week are more likely to abuse alcohol, tobacco and other drugs than their counterparts who have family dinners regularly.
   If this is the case, sophomore Oneall Mogliazzi should be in good shape; he says he dines with his parents and siblings almost every weeknight.
   “It’s fun, and we get to talk a lot,” he says. “[My mom] gets mad if we don’t [gather, and] I’d miss it [if we stopped.]”
    Mogliazzi is able to make time with his family for dinner despite being involved in varsity soccer. However, there are other students who participate in sports and other activities who aren’t as lucky.
   Sophomore Fallon Kearney attributes her inability to have regular family dinners to homework, school, clubs and work. Likewise, senior Connelly Doan says a packed schedule of baseball and band practice leaves little time for family dining. But does this mean they will turn to drugs, as the CASA report asserts?
   “Some kids eat with their families every night and still do drugs,” says senior Ginger Olsen.
Junior Olivia Cawley says the study’s findings are probably true and suggests that kids in such families may feel that their parents don’t care. They may do drugs for attention, she says. She admits a dearth of family dinners sometimes plagues her family, causing them to be creative.
   “ We do find other things to do as a family when everyone has time,” says Cawley.
    Junior Karen Smith says an important factor is using the available time to maintain a close bond with family. Any separation, isolation, neglect or depression that could be caused without that bond are likely catalysts for teens “to turn to drugs for comfort.”
   Family therapist Ellen Talles sees merit in the CASA study and adds that with today’s teens’ easy access to things like Facebook and texting, it is easy not to have any shared experiences. Mealtimes can be an opportunity to give teens an outlet to voice their anxieties. Without that outlet, they may turn to destructive behaviors as a “distraction,” she says, or to find a “sense of belonging” with others doing the same things.
   Brian Boston, guidance department chairman, agrees with the study’s finding but remains hopeful, adding that there are a myriad of times and situations in which families can reconnect.