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Keeping the peace around the Thanksgiving dinner table

Posted at 2:33 PM, Nov 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-22 19:40:47-05

HAMPTON ROADS, Va.- Thanksgiving is here and that means dinner with loved ones around the table! But, how do you keep the peace and avoid family conflict when you're cutting the turkey?

Virginia Tech professor Todd Schenk says difficult conversations and topics don't have to turn into a food fight.

"Thanksgiving serves as an opportunity to appreciate each other's humanity, even when we disagree. We should not avoid tough discussions beacuse if we want to be truly understood and advance our causes, we have to connect with people very different than ourselves," says Schenk.

Experts say active listening and keeping an open mind are vital! Also, asking questions to dig deeper on understanding someone else's perspective is helpful as well.

Listening to understand and not to debate is a method experts say will go a long way.