Life has increasingly moved online. We can order groceries online, pay our bills, and text our kids’ teachers. We rarely use cash and actual phone conversations are a novelty. Raising children in an increasingly global, virtual environment is filled with new challenges.
To My Child, I am letting you go to Senior Week, but that doesn’t mean I won’t worry. I know you want me to start treating you like an adult by giving you some space and some trust. But I also know that sometimes people your age think that nothing can ever happen to them; …
By Sara Feldman and Jennifer Rudo, JCS Prevention Education Millennials are loosely defined as falling between the ages of 13 and 30. It’s no surprise that they’re known as the generation that’s plugged in, but not connected. Millennials communicate often, but it’s more via social media than in person. We suspected there is more to …
By Debra K. Waranch, LCSW-C Does this ever happen to you? You’re running late, you feel rushed, frustrated, and generally unprepared for your day. The last thing on your mind is what you are going to eat that day. But when the time comes and you’re famished, you reach for the easiest thing, and it’s …
By Susan Kurlander, Health Educator Alcohol, a legal drug for those of us over 21, is part of our lives whether for ceremonial/religious, cultural, social or, in some cases, medicinal reasons. How many of us have put a wine-soaked piece of gauze in our son’s mouth at his bris to help quiet him? How many …
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD). By Karen James, LCSW-C, Manager, Adult Therapy Services Some people say we are trying to fill a hole inside the self with our addictions. That makes sense to me, but what about the hole in the structure of …
By Sara Feldman, Teen Outreach Worker A few months ago I heard Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman speak in Baltimore at the Friends of the IDF fundraiser. I was inspired by her dedication to gymnastics, as well as her unapologetic attitude about her Jewish heritage, which attracted worldwide attention at the 2012 Summer Olympics. During …
By Joan Grayson Cohen, LCSW-C, Esq., Senior Manager, Access Services As parents, it’s hard for us to keep up with all the ways kids find to take risks. For example, gathering with other teens to drink and loosen up before a structured event, known as “pre-gaming,” has become a common activity among teens. Why are …
By Susan Kurlander, Health Educator, Prevention Education “I don’t abuse alcohol. I look forward to drinking sometimes to relieve stress, to help me deal with the extra work I have to do, or to loosen me up when I’m with friends.” “I can’t be an alcoholic. I’m too young, too smart, too healthy, too able …
By Susan Kurlander, Health Educator Tragically, we have recently been bombarded with news of drug and alcohol related deaths. The media have focused graphic and in-depth attention on the death of singer Whitney Houston, who struggled with drug addiction even at the pinnacle of her career, and on the trial of George Huguely, University of …
