Knowledge of Good Touch and Bad Touch among Children Aged 6-12 Years in Selected Schools, Sambalpur, Odisha: The Effect of Structured Teaching Program

Background: Child abuse refers to the emotional, physical, economic, and sexual mistreatment inflicted against individuals under the age of eighteen and is a widespread global issue. The escalating complexities of life and the significant transformations resulting from socio-economic shifts in India have substantially heightened children's susceptibility to diverse and emerging forms of abuse. Child abuse has significant physical and psychosocial repercussions that negatively impact a child's health and overall well-being. “Impact of a structured teaching program on knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate touch among children aged 6 to 12 years in selected schools in Sambalpur, Odisha.” Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a systematic educational program about appropriate and inappropriate contact among children aged 6 to 12 years. To ascertain the correlation between post-knowledge scores and specified demographic characteristics. Methods: A pre-experimental design with a one-group pretest-post-test framework was employed for the study. The samples from the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Integral Education and Research Centre in Burla, Sambalpur district, were picked via a non-probability purposive sampling technique. The sample included 60 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years. The instruments employed for data collection were a self-structured knowledge questionnaire, and a structured training program was devised. The data analysis employed descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that the post-test knowledge score (mean = 18.72, SD = 1.303) was significantly higher than the pretest mean knowledge score (mean = 11.38, SD = 1.975). The paired "t" test indicates statistical significance at (p < 0.0001) with a "t" value of 29.59. A statistically significant knowledge score indicates the beneficial effect of the structured instruction approach. The computed chi-square value for the relationship between the knowledge levels of children aged 6-12 years about good touch and bad touch and their defined demographic characteristics is statistically significant at the 0.05 level. No substantial correlation exists among demographic characteristics. Limitations include the absence of a control group, restricted internal validity, small sample size, brief study duration, and lack of randomisation. Conclusion: The study findings indicated that the majority of students aged 6-12 years exhibited a moderately satisfactory level following the structured training program.