Muppets From Sesame Workshop Help Explain Opioid Addiction to Young Children

(NPR) Tevis Simon grew up in West Baltimore back in the 1980s, a neighborhood that lacked attention from the city and investment from the government. From day to day, she was never sure what version of her mother she'd encounter.

"I knew that if my mom had her drugs, that she was fun, mommy. And if she didn't, then she was mean mommy," Simon says.

Simon's mother was addicted to opioids and her issues with the drug led to abuse and neglect, she says.

Millions of children struggle with what Simon went 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.

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