How Parents Across the United States Are Talking About Family Separation at the Dinner Table — The Family Table

Images and stories of Central American families split apart at the border have become the topic of conversation for families of all ethnicities over the past month. But how do parents handle such a delicate subject with their children at dinner?

More than breakfast or lunch — almost always rushed affairs where conversations lean toward the superficial or mundane — dinner is what anchors families as a unit and as individuals. It's when they reunite to share what's going on with them, what they've learned over the past 12 hours; it's a time to feel comfort before bed, but also to gather strength for the following day. This is when children ask their parents about issues they hear about at school or on the playground, because they're confident parents will have answers that'll let them sleep well.

And few political issues are weighing on kids right now as much as seeing the plight of their peers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

We spoke to a wide range of fathers and mothers across the U.S. — white, Latino, Muslim, and foster in New York City, Los Angeles, the South, and Albuquerque — and the answers were telling. Parents are being frank with their children, if age-appropriate, while the kids themselves — from toddlers to teens — are surprising their parents with an empathy borne by how viscerally they feel the subject. As one dad told me, "My daughter sees those families and wonders why it's them and not us."

Below are the thoughts of 10 parents.

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