by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | Jun 26, 2018 | In The Media
by Andrew Malekoff. Featured in Blank Slate Media, June 25, 2018
There are a few great films that have lingered in my consciousness; images are seared in, memorable lines are indelible and feelings evoked are still close to the surface.
“The White Ribbon: (2010) is one such film that has left a lasting residue. It depicts the residents of a northern German village, dominated by a baron, sometime before World War I.
Inhabitants of the village young and old are sliding down a slippery slope of moral decline. A number of men in leadership positions are despicable, especially in their treatment of women and children.
The cruelest scene of the movie was not one that showed physical violence, but verbal abuse towards a woman that served faithfully as caretaker and more for the town’s widowed physician.
As for some of the children, although it is only suggested it appears that they are budding sociopaths that perform serial acts of meanness.
Movie reviewer Mike LaSalle wrote about the film, “No child is trained to become a martinet, and no one says anything about a master race. Rather, the kids, from their elders, get quiet lessons in moral absolutism, sternness, emotional violence and heartlessness.”
Weeks after seeing the film, I started thinking more deeply about the children in this pre-World War I town. I realized that they would become young adults during the time Hitler would rise to power.
They lived an incubator in which they adopted the brutality that they experienced, often against unsuspecting victims. They were being unwittingly primed for carrying out the atrocities that later came to characterize their future lives in Nazi Germany.
Seeing this film has led me to wonder about what the times we live in today are a prequel for.
As LaSalle remarked, “It didn’t have to be Nazism that took hold a generation later. It might have been any ideology that encourages blind devotion that flatters people’s vanity by telling them they’re intelligent for not thinking and that they’re virtuous for believing themselves better than their fellow citizens.”
“The White Ribbon” begs the question: What is today’s America making our children morally susceptible to?
![Guidance Center Hosts 22nd Annual Krevat Cup]()
by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | Jun 21, 2018 | Press Releases
Event raised more than $230,000 to support children’s mental health agency
Roslyn Heights, NY, DATE, 2018 —North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, the preeminent not-for-profit children’s mental health agency on Long Island, once again hosted a joyful event filled with golf, tennis and an extraordinary dinner at our 22nd annual Jonathan Krevat Memorial Golf & Tennis Classic on Monday, June 18, 2018, at The Creek in Locust Valley. The event raised more than $230,000 to support the Guidance Center’s work to bring hope and healing to children and families dealing with mental health or substance use challenges.
This year’s honoree was Ed Haug, Managing Partner of Haug Partners LLP, a pioneer East Coast law firm and provider of synthesized, multidisciplinary legal services for life science and technology businesses.
“Everyone had a great time on this magnificent golf course and on the tennis courts, and the elegant steak and lobster dinner was exquisite” said Haug. “But the most important thing is that we came together so that children and their families will continue to receive the life-saving services of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center Guidance Center.”
Left to right: Guidance Center Executive Director Andrew Malekoff, event co-chairs Mike Mondiello and Troy Slade, honoree Ed Haug and event founder Jeff Krevat.
The co-chairs for this year’s Krevat Cup were Michael Mondiello, Michael Schnepper and Troy Slade. In addition,
Dan Donnelly, last year’s honoree, served as the auctioneer at this year’s event. “It’s all about the kids,” said Donnelly, a longtime support of the Guidance Center. “I consider it a privilege to be here today to help raise money to support the incredible work that truly makes a difference in the lives of children and their families.”
“We’re so grateful to all of the people who worked so hard to make this year’s event a huge success,” said Andrew Malekoff, Executive Director of the Guidance Center. “Their dedication to our work enables us to provide the services to all those who need them, despite their ability to pay.”
by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | Jun 21, 2018 | In The Media
[In her column on her battle with depression], Daysi Calavia-Robertson’s statement speaks volumes: “Remember, no matter what anybody might say, this is not a weakness.”
Indeed, we need to treat mental illness the same as we treat a physical illness. After the suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a news release that, “Depression does not discriminate.” But health insurers often discriminate when it comes to providing the coverage for mental health care required by federal law.
It takes courage to ask for help, but finding providers who take your insurance is a challenge. The list of providers is short and waiting lists are often months’ long. Would we stand for this kind of wait for cancer? Certainly not. Nevertheless, many are forced to wait for timely, affordable care for depression, anxiety or similar illnesses.
Andrew Malekoff, Long Beach
by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | Jun 21, 2018 | Blog
By Andrew Malekoff
This past fall, North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center hosted psychotherapist, author and parenting expert Sean Grover for a workshop titled “When your child relates better to screens than human beings.”
As tech-dependence increases, many kids move through the world in a self-centered bubble, separated from their own thoughts and feelings, and the thoughts and feelings of others. As conversation skills and positive interactions crumble, technology even starts to change kids’ sense of humanity; they are less compassionate and sensitive to others.
“Everywhere you look, children are staring into cell phones, screens, computer screens, tablets, iPads and more,” said Grover, who has appeared on the Today Show, in the New York Times and in many other media outlets. “While some kids use technology as a pastime, others are absorbed by it. Technology devours their lives. They can’t put it down or turn it off. These kids tend to be more isolated and anxious, have poor people skills, difficulty maintaining friendships or an unstable sense of self.”
In his workshop, Grover gave parents guidelines on how to take back control and help their offspring wean off their technology addiction. Here are some of his tips:
1. Tech Blackouts
Set aside specific times at home when no one (parents included) uses technology. Cell phones, computers, iPads…everything is off. If you want your kid to be less tech-addicted, you must lead the way. Tech-free time can be spent reading, talking, playing games, cooking, making art…anything creative or social will do.
2. Tech Hours
Kids resist structure — but fall apart without it. Technology needs limits. For instance, I often recommend that families establish tech hours; time for homework, gaming or surfing the Internet. Scheduling tech time will help to limit battles by setting clear guidelines. When it comes to gaming, many parents may allow 30 minutes a day during the school week and two hours a day on the weekends.
3. Tech Spaces
When possible, keep all technology in a common space like the living room — not in a child’s bedroom. Establish communal places for tech time; try to avoid allowing your kid to disappear for hours behind a closed door.
4. Tech Limits
There are plenty of online services that can filter out inappropriate or violent material. These services can also limit Internet access by scheduling times that the Internet is available and times when it is not. One example of such a service is Net Nanny.
If you haven’t already read between the lines, you should know that how you use tech devices influences your ability to effectively guide your kids. Although your example is not the sole factor, keep in mind that as distant as some kids become from adults as they are moving through their teen years, they continue to observe you—more closely than you know.
by North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center | Jun 14, 2018 | Anton Media
In a report issued by Nassau County’s Department of Health—Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan (2016-18)—there is no mention of maternal mortality or information on social and environmental risk factors for women and infants of color. Consequently, no initiatives to address maternal and infant mortality disparities are recommended, yet overall Nassau County health data indicates that it ranks at the top of all counties in New York State.
To address this “invisible injustice,” maternal and child health advocates convened at Hofstra University on March 23 for a Birth Equity Breakfast organized by the Nassau County Perinatal Services Network.
Birth equity refers to the assurance that all human beings have the best possible births, buttressed by careful attention to racial and social disparities.
Keynoter Dr. Martine Hackett, assistant professor at Hofstra University’s School of Health Professions and Human Services, presented data from the state Department of Health that showed the disparate outcomes for black mothers and babies as compared with their white counterparts.
Infant mortality refers to the death of children before their first birthdays, which is a key indicator of the overall health of a population. According to the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Japan is the number one ranked country for newborn survival, while the United States ranks only 22nd in the world.
Among the eye-opening data that Hackett cited are the differences between the infant mortality rates in contiguous communities in Nassau County. For example, in Roosevelt there were 11.1 infant deaths per 1,000 births from 2012-14, while neighboring Merrick had zero deaths. Overall, in Nassau County the black infant mortality rate is more than four times that of the White infant mortality rate and even higher than in New York City.
Dr. Joia Creer-Perry, president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, spoke about the perception of black mothers and the barriers to receiving holistic care by the health care system. If a woman is living under great stress she will have trouble carrying her baby to term. Premature birth to underweight babies is a leading cause of infant mortality.
Social justice activist and attorney Fred Brewington condemned the institutional racism prevalent in healthcare that has resulted in infant mortality figures today that are no different than they were almost a century ago.
Just weeks after the Birth Equity Breakfast, Tasha Portley, a nurse living in Tyler, TX, spoke at a similar forum halfway across the U.S. In a report published in the April 16 edition of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Portley stated that “Pregnant black women often experience casually degrading remarks from white people when they seek maternal health care.”
Portley shared the story of a black woman who had some difficulty acquiring a breast pump from a local social services agency and, in the process, was the target of demeaning remarks by an employee. Portley went on to say, “We are dying because we are black and we are living in a country where there is inherent racism. It is systemic. It is the thread; it is the fiber of everything that exists.”
Hackett highlighted what needs to happen in order to turn the corner on disparities in Nassau County. Among her recommendations were to inform women after childbirth of warning signs for hemorrhage, embolism or infection, especially when there are preexisting conditions; to enhance service integration for women and infants; and to treat women of color with dignity, respect and culturally relevant care.
Bringing birth inequities to light is an important step forward. When this issue is not identified in Nassau County health data, people don’t know about it and it cannot be addressed. The breakfast concluded with the unveiling of the Birth Justice Warriors, an initiative envisioned by Hackett, to train birth advocates with the hope of ameliorating the birth inequities in Nassau County.
