Now Sesame Workshop, the educational nonprofit behind one of the world’s most famous children’s shows, is trying to give young kids a better understanding of addiction in families.
Many of those children feel confused and anxious about what their parents are going through. More than 4% of children in the United States live in a household with a parent who misuses opioids, according to estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Millions of children struggle with what Simon went through. Simon’s mother was addicted to opioids and her issues with the drug led to abuse and neglect, she says. And if she didn’t, then she was mean mommy,” Simon says. “I knew that if my mom had her drugs, that she was fun, mommy. From day to day, she was never sure what version of her mother she’d encounter. Tevis Simon grew up in West Baltimore back in the 1980s, a neighborhood that lacked attention from the city and investment from the government.
