Latest news with #RachelWallace
Daily Record
22-07-2025
- Daily Record
NSPCC issues advice on when to let kids play outside during summer holidays
Your child might want to head into town or go to the park but it's hard knowing whether to let them or not Raising children can be incredibly challenging, especially when the summer holidays hit and youngsters naturally start craving more freedom. The summer break is a time when kids step away from their normal routine. With that, they will be eager to venture out and socialise with classmates in town centres or local parks throughout the six-week holiday. However, feeling anxious about allowing your child to roam unsupervised is entirely natural, and determining whether your youngster is prepared to navigate public areas independently can prove difficult. So, how can you determine if it's appropriate to grant your child this freedom? The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has provided special guidance addressing this precise parenting question. Online, the NSPCC states: "As your child gets older, it's likely that they'll want to explore going out without you. When they ask, it can be helpful to find out a few basic facts to help you make the right decision for both of you." The specialists advise that youngsters under 12 should not be left without supervision, and that infants or toddlers must never be left unattended under any circumstances. Where they wish to go, what they plan to do, who they'll be with, and how far they're travelling are all crucial questions to ask before your child ventures out without you. The parenting experts also emphasised the importance of asking kids what time they expect to return. Before being allowed to go out alone, your child should know basic information such as their full name, address, and the phone numbers of at least two trusted adults, including their home numbers if available. Your child should also know how to reach you in an emergency and how to cross the road safely. Rachel Wallace, the NSPCC's local campaigns manager for the Midlands, told Worcester News: "It is important to think carefully and make sure you and your child are prepared, while also remembering the positives around supporting your child with developing skills for independence. "At the NSPCC, we have lots of information to help you make the decision that is right for your family. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. "Infants and young children below three years of age should never be left alone, and children of primary school age would normally need supervision." Ultimately, it's important that both you and your child feel comfortable with them going out unsupervised. "Every child is different," Wallace continued. "At the NSPCC, we recommend building up a child's independence at their own pace and having regular open conversations to make sure they feel safe." If you're still uncertain whether your child is ready to go out alone, the NSPCC provides a useful quiz on its website. For more advice about whether to let your child play outside alone, visit or contact the NSPCC Helpline for free advice by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@
CBS News
13-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Resources to overcome addiction and substance dependence
Nearly 50 million over the age of 12 reportedly have substance use disorders, which can include addictions to alcohol or drugs. Other issues that affect millions - such as gambling, shopping, gaming, and porn - have also been classified as addictions and mental health disorders. All of these can be personally devastating, and sometimes life threatening. Addiction can take many forms Experts say about 5% of the population has a compulsive shopping disorder, buut there is less research in this area of addiction than that of drugs and alcohol for example. What is clear however, is the financial and emotional implications are very real. "I have ADHD. I've had it, you know, I take medication for this. So, so the dopamine thing is an issue there," one compulsive shopper told CBS News New York. "It's kind of like, it, what, when you're on a roller coaster and you go really high, and then you come down, that feeling that you get when you're coming down. It's like, you just want to keep going with that feeling." "People that are reaching for substances, or gambling, or shopping or sex, there's a seeking. They're seeking to fill some need," Rachel Wallace of Hackensack Meridian Health Carrier Clinic said. "What people are encouraged to do is find their own concept of spirituality... when people get outside and they feel that that connection with nature. Meditation is another concept... breathwork, music, dance, poetry, journaling." From gambling to recovery According to the New York State Gaming Commission, nearly $58 billion in bets have been placed in the three years since New York legalized mobile sports wagering. They add that bankruptcies have sharply increased, as well as incidents involving domestic violence. Rob Sackowitz says he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars and tells a harrowing tale of his compulsive gambling, the lies it fostered, the financial devastation to him and his family and how it nearly ended his life. "More gamblers commit suicide than drug addicts and alcoholics combined, and that's because they're in their brain, the only way out of their problem... because they owe so much money, is continuing to gamble," Sackowitz said. For a dozen years, Sackowitz says he's been free of drinking, drugs and gambling. In 2022 he and his wife opened their own clinic called Right Choice Recovery, in Dayton, N.J. which offers a variety of programs and therapies. "I would wake up when bank transfers in the middle of the night, what I know would clear," former compulsive gambler Scott Desch said. "It was controlling a lot of my thoughts, a lot of my time. It was hurting. It was hurting me, and then ultimately it hurts others." "One of the one of the requirements of our of our program is that we engage in family therapy," adolescent therapist Allen Gabriel of Right Choice Recovery said. "I always do is encourage parents to set aside what I call talk time every week with your child, and that is just you spending an hour or two with your child and a place away from home where you guys have a conversation and there's absolutely no judgment. It's just creating a safe a safe space for them to be able to talk and really allow you to kind of understand the world as they see it." Gabriel says asking for help is a sign of strength. Alcohol and other substances Nearly 30 million people struggle with alcohol use disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health. The effects of this disease are devasting and can impact nearly all aspects of a person's life - relationships, jobs, finances, and health, just for starters. As negative repercussions add up, the outcomes are often catastrophic. There are hundreds of treatment facilities in our area, but as we've come to understand from those who have lived through the throes of alcoholism and addiction, you have to be ready to receive help. "If they don't see it as a problem, that it's one of the hardest things to, kind of, progress on what to do," addiction psychiatrist Dr. Tony Issac of Raritan Bay Medical Center said. "They're saying, you know, but I don't drink at work, right? But if they're still kind of having the physical withdrawal, by definition, that means you have a physical dependency on the alcohol." Issac outlined some issues that can occur during the withdrawal process. "With alcohol withdrawal tremors, it can progress to more severe alcohol withdrawal states, like alcohol withdrawal hallucinosis, where you start seeing things, hearing things, feeling things other people might not experience. It can progress to withdrawal seizures or delirium tremens, which are both medical emergencies," Issac said. "Reach out for help, whether that's your primary care doctor, whether it's family or friends, whether it's like a local psychiatrist, really, anyone... you want to encourage that conversation to kind of really bolster yourself in order to address whatever has to be addressed." Overcoming addiction Substance use disorder is recognized as a disease, and there is a range of effective treatment. There's inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient counseling, and a multitude of programs from 12 step, to cognitive and behavioral therapies, art, music, yoga - even spiritual healing. There are effective medications to block opioid cravings. There is also peer counseling, which provides an important connection and understanding, ultimately helping the user, and the counselor as well. Delvoris Bryant is a peer counselor working at Carrier Clinic in New Jersey. She says she's been clean and sober for 12 years "I'm a member of the community, so I'm able to help quite a few people that just may not know which way to turn, how to go about it," she said. She found her way into hard drugs and an even harder life, eventually spending about a year in prison. "And I had nothing left, but my mother, and I was watching myself kill her day by day with my drug abuse," Bryant said. "I could not live with that." Now she continues to navigate her drug-free life, helping herself while she helps others. "Addiction devastates families like no other illness or disease does... the behavioral elements of addiction can be really difficult to understand. Why people would steal from a loved one, why people would drive under the influence with children in the car, why someone who's pregnant would continue to use substances," Wallace said. "It's not a choice. Remember that their brain has been hijacked. They're in a significant progress state of addiction and without support and intervention." Resources
