Empowering Teachers in Child Abuse Prevention: Strategies for Promoting Personal Safety Education into Teacher Training Programs.

Abstract: The primary purpose of the current study was to explore teachers’ perspectives regarding the current practices of personal safety education in schools. The study employed a descriptive research approach. A total of (N =5687) teachers served as the population of investigation from government elementary and primary schools located in Multan region, Punjab, Pakistan. The study's representative sample of teachers was composed of (211), including male teachers (M = 80) and female teachers (F =131) selected through a stratified sampling technique. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics independent sample t-tests in SPSS. According to the results, teachers were quite confident in their ability to deal with child abuse issues; however, they lack the policies and training to educate children on personal safety education in schools. The study recommended that multifaceted tactics, requiring joint efforts from the administration, stakeholders, and policymakers, can prevent child abuse. Therefore, to effectively combat child abuse, schools should offer teachers training programs on personal safety education. Keywords: Prevention, Safety, Strategies, Teachers, Training.