Supporting her oldest child while he dealt with substance use disorder was one challenge for Lee Varon. The Cambridge author and clinical social worker also needed to figure out the best way to educate her younger child about what was going on.
Now Varon is using her experiences to help others. Her first children’s book, “My Brother Is Not A Monster: A Story of Addiction and Recovery,” came out in 2021. She’s partnered with A Kids Co. to release her second children’s book addressing the opioid crisis, this time for kids ages 5 and up: “A Kids Book About Overdose.”
Varon was compelled to write after a UCLA study found approximately 22 high school-aged children died each week from overdoses in 2022. With younger and younger people being exposed to drugs and overdoses through experimentation, peer pressure or prescribed medication, Varon believes it’s necessary for adults to intervene and educate children at a younger age.
Overdose can be a heavy topic, but Varon hopes her book can help adults broach the topic and start a conversation with kids. (Another way into the topic: International Overdose Awareness Day is Saturday, and October is National Recovery Month.)
As the book progresses, readers are taught what substance use disorder is, the difference between legal and illegal drugs and about prescription drugs and experimentation, all with the goal of showing readers that all people who consume drugs become susceptible to an overdose. An introduction to these topics gives adults the opportunity to teach children what an overdose is, how to recognize one and how to respond to one.
“This book can be really valuable for any age, but it’s mainly targeted for parents to be able to read with their child. A young child might not have the reading skills available, but an adult can read it with them. They don’t even have to read it all at once. They could read a little bit here and a little bit there, but then a child might go back and reread it themselves, if they’re able to read, and refer back to the key points raised,” Varon said.
A topic as complicated as addiction and overdoses can bring big feelings to the surface, whether it’s fear, anger, guilt or grief. Varon believes it’s important for children exposed to substance use disorder to have a trusted adult to share their feelings with and to understand there’s nothing they could’ve done about the situation – it wasn’t their fault, and they can’t control the outcome.
“Younger children are absorbing all these things that are going on in the family and all these fears and worries that the grown-ups might have. It’s important to be able to be able to sit down with younger children and try to talk to them about it, acknowledge their feelings and their worries and their concerns, and tell them that you’re doing the best you can to learn as much as possible and to make things safe for everybody in the family. And this book hopefully will be helpful in that,” Varon said.
A children’s book about overdoses has drawn some criticism and concerns. Varon said she’s heard parents say they wouldn’t it in their home because they believe it could lead to their children choosing to use drugs. “I don’t feel that a book like this would encourage kids to take drugs,” Varon said. “I feel like not reading a book like this might leave them with no tools if an overdose should occur.”
As a social worker, Varon wanted to provide children with tools such as as how to call 911 or use Narcan, which delivers an antidote for overdoses. Varon tries to make the information easily digestible and gentle for her child audience.
“I try to be factual and calming. I try to use a calm tone in terms of ‘These are the facts.’ I also try to be hopeful. I want people to know that an overdose can be reversed. It’s really important that people come away with that message. There are things that can be done,” Varon said.
“A Kids Book About Overdose” is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Bookshop.
A stronger
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