Background: Child abuse is a serious global concern that affects the physical, emotional, and psychological

well-being of children. School-age children are especially vulnerable due to limited awareness and inability to

report incidents. Educating children about child abuse and preventive measures can play a crucial role in

safeguarding their rights and promoting a safe environment.

while none had adequate knowledge. After the intervention, knowledge levels significantly improved, with

56.7% attaining adequate knowledge. The mean pre-test score was 9.7, which increased to 21 in the post-test,

associations were found between knowledge and selected demographic variables such as parental education and

source of information.

Conclusion: The study concludes that the structured teaching programme was effective in enhancing the

knowledge of school-age children regarding child abuse. Educational interventions in schools are essential to

empower children with the awareness and skills to protect themselves from abuse

Keywords: Structured Teaching Programme, Child Abuse, Knowledge, School-age Children, Prevention

The campaign works through our area programs that deal with different issues of healthcare typically

malnutrition and early illness, education, child rights and protection and the improve men to fresilience in

communities.

Viazzo, P.P. (2020) while from the article “Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes, the Asian Centre

for Human Rights said that sexual offences against children in India have reached epidemic proportion. The

report stated that more than 48,000 child rape cases were recorded from 2001 to 2011 and that India saw an

increase of 336% of child rape cases from 2001 (2,113 cases) to 2011(7,112 cases). In 2000, the Women's World

Summit Foundation (WWSF), a non-governmental organization, launched the World Day for Prevention of

Government of India study on child abuse (UNICEF) the findings of the Study on Child Abuse clearly indicate

that a very large number of children in India are not even safe in their homes. It is here, in the home, that we

must start tackling the problem of child abuse. Interventions are needed to bring about change in the ways family

members behave towards children in the home.

Hindustan Times (2017) conducted a survey participated by more than 45,000 children in the 12- 18 age group,

across 26 states in the country, revealed that one in every two children is a victim of child sexual abuse. The

survey conducted by human organization World Vision India with a sample of 45,844 respondents also revealed

that one in every five do not feel safe because of the fear of being sexually abused. It also said one in four families

Jewkes et al., (2016). In South Africa, according to a recent report by the South African Medical Research

Council, child abuse is still a pervasive problem despite the protection offered by various legislative instruments

enacted since the advent of popular democracy.

Andersson & Ho-Foster, (2016) in the survey, male child sexual abuse was very common especially in rural

areas with 44% of all the male children respondents reporting that they have been coerced into having sex.

According to the report published in 2019 on 'Trafficking in Women and Children in India', 44,476 children were

reported missing in India, out of which 11,008 children continued to remain untraced. India, being a major source

and destination country for trafficked children from within India and adjoining countries has, by conservative

Juana Gomez-Benito (2018) the purpose of this paper was to compare the prevalence rates of child sexual abuse.

The results revealed that Thirty-eight independent articles were identified, corresponding to 39 prevalence

studies; these articles report the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in 21 different countries, ranging from 0

general pattern that remains more or less constant over the years, especially in women. The present study shows

child sexual abuse is still a widespread problem in the society. In this research, carried out on 38 independent

studies, there is new data for 21 countries over the world, being especially relevant the results obtained from

other countries different from those pertaining to North America or Europe. It is important to point out the high

prevalence found in most of the countries, so this information could be a new warning to make society and

governments aware of this problem and undertake actions to prevent sexual abuse in childhood.

Harkness & Lumley, (2018) concluded in their seven large-scale studies, all studies showed a high association

between child maltreatment and depression in adolescence. For example, the authors cited a longitudinal study

by Brown and colleagues which found that children and adolescents who reported a history of abuse or neglect

Mathews et al., (2016) released a recent crime statistics released by the South African Police Service showed

that children are increasing targeted by abusers and common criminals alike. The crime statistics report for 2012

in the process. The results depicts Twenty of 365 studies (5.5%) yielded fractures involving the spine, hands, or

feet. Of all positive skeletal surveys, 8.9% (20/225) had fractures involving the spine, hands, or feet.

enhanced when treatment regimes are longer rather than shorter is applicable to the present findings.

Operationally, longer programs equate to programs with treatment periods in excess of 4-6 weeks, for example,

the Multi level Selected Prevention Program.

A quantitative research approach was adopted to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching programme

(STP) on the knowledge regarding child abuse among school-age children. The study utilized a pre-experimental

one group pre-test post-test design. This design was selected to measure the change in knowledge before and

after the intervention.

Independent Variable: Structured Teaching Programme (STP) on child abuse. Dependent Variable: Knowledge

score of school-age children regarding child abuse. Demographic Variables: Age, class of study, religion,

number of siblings, type of family, parents’ education, occupation, income, and source of information.

Children studying in class VI to VIII. Children available during the period of data collection. Children willing

to participate in the study are come under inclusion criteria. Exclusion Criteria are Children who were absent

during data collection. Children with health issues or learning disabilities interfering with participation.

The tool consisted of three sections

:

The above table-1 revealed that frequency (F) and percentage (%) distribution of participants according to

according to age, class, religion, number of siblings, ordinal position, head of the family, family living status,

education status of the parents/ guardian, occupation of the parents/ guardian, monthly income, unhealthy habits

of the father, types of the family, number of family members, source of information.

The above table showed that a marked improvement in the knowledge scores of school-age children following

the structured teaching programme on child abuse. In the pre-test, the majority of participants (66.7%) had

inadequate knowledge, while 33.3% had moderate knowledge, and none of them had adequate knowledge. This

indicates that before the intervention, most children lacked sufficient awareness regarding child abuse,

highlighting the urgent need for educational programmes. The post-test results showed a significant shift in the

knowledge levels. More than half of the children (56.7%) demonstrated adequate knowledge, while 43.3% had

moderate knowledge, and none remained in the inadequate category. This improvement clearly reflects the

effectiveness of the structured teaching programme in enhancing the children’s understanding of child abuse.

Table-3: Mean, Standard deviation and ‘t’ value of pretest and posttest level of knowledge. N=30

The data presented on the revealed that, the mean knowledge score in the pre-test was 9.7 (SD = 3.4), indicating

inadequate knowledge among the majority of participants. After the intervention, the post-test mean score

increased to 21 (SD = 2.9). The mean difference of 11.3 between the pre-test and post-test clearly demonstrates

was 26, which is highly significant at p < 0.05. This indicates that the observed improvement was not due to

chance but rather attributable to the structured teaching intervention. So the effectiveness of structured health

education in improving knowledge regarding child abuse among school-age children.

knowledge level scores with the selected demographic variables such as age, religion, family living status and

type of family.

The study shows that among the 30 school age children, 20(66.7%) had inadequate knowledge, 10 (33.3%) had

moderate knowledge and 0 (0%) had adequate knowledge in the pretest. The level of knowledge was improved

after intervention and in the post test 13 (43.3%) had moderate knowledge and 17(56.7%) had adequate

knowledge.

The study findings revealed that, there was a significant association between the pretest level of knowledge score

with their selected demographic variables such as education of the parent and source of information. There was

no significant association between pretest knowledge level scores with the selected demographic variables such

as age, religion, family living status and type of family.

Limitation of the study:

The study was conducted only in one school. Only the school age children between (10-13years) were

participated.

Nurses working in child care institutions and community settings can integrate life skill education as part of

No Funding

There are no conflicts of interest for the writers.

Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely appreciate all the participants who willingly dedicated their time and thoughtfully provided

sincere and well- considered responses.