CORVALLIS, OR—After insisting that her husband and children put away their devices while they were at the table, local mom Lana Pickens explained to reporters Monday that her family had a rule about never eating cell phones at dinner. “This is the one time of day when we’re all able to be together, so it’s important that we have conversations and really listen to each other, something that can be hard to do over the loud crunching of aluminum, glass, and plastic,” said the 49-year-old mother of two, who at one point during the meal scolded her son after discovering the teenager had placed his Samsung Galaxy in his lap so he could discreetly reach down, break off a piece, and place it in his mouth. “When I was a kid, people didn’t spend nearly as much time chewing on screens, and that’s a value I’d like to pass along to my own children. But once they’re excused from the table and have finished their homework, they can sink their teeth into as many SIM cards and liquid crystal displays as they like.” Pickens added that she was considering making a new rule to keep her children from spending every weekend flopped on the sofa and nibbling on the family’s 55-inch television.