Structured teaching through a picture module on child sexual abuse: A potential tool to increase knowledge among school children

Background: Sexually abusing a child by an adult or for that matter even by an adolescent for sexual stimulation is categorised as Child sexual abuse (CSA). It refers to the involvement of a child in a sexual act aimed towards the physical gratification or the financial profit of the abuser. Objective: The study was done to assess the knowledge of school children regarding child sexual abuse and to determine effectiveness of a structured teaching program implemented through a picture module by comparing the pre-test and post-test knowledge scores. Method: A quasi- experimental one group pre-test post-test design was used. Information was collected from 60 participants using a structured knowledge questionnaire. Pre-test was done to assess the knowledge of participants, then a structured teaching program through a picture module on child sexual abuse was implemented and it was followed by a post-test to find out the effectiveness. Results: Forty percent (40%) of the participants had previous information about good and bad touch, source of information for majority (31.6%) was television and only 8.33% had got information from parents. The mean knowledge score in pre-test was 5.75±2.37, whereas mean post test score was 14.67±3.22 with a mean difference of 8.92. The structured teaching program which was implemented through a picture module was found to be statistically significant (t=32.97, p=0.001) in improving the knowledge of the participants regarding CSA. Conclusion: CSA is preventable. Teaching program through a picture module helped to enhance knowledge of the participants regarding CSA.