Abstract:

The aim of this study is to develop a psycho-education program called Personal Safety Awareness (PSA) psycho -education program to protect 3rd and 4th grade students from sexual abuse and to test the effectiveness of this program consisting of six sessions. The participants are 3rd and 4th grade students in a primary school in Izmit in Kocaeli province. 41 of the participants were assigned to the experimental group and 39 to the control group. Before and after the implementation of the training program pre-tests and post-tests related to the dependent variables, six months and a year after the implementation only the experimental group was given follow-up tests. The datas related to dependent variables were obtained through the Personal Safety Awareness Scale (PSAS) ) and Piers Harris' Self Concept of Children Scale (PHSCCS). In the analysis of parametric and nonparametric datas, statistics were used to compare the groups. There was a significant increase in the PSAS scores of the students and no significant increase was found in the PHSCCS who participated in the PSA program compared to the pre-practise measurements. PSA psycho-education program had an effective on increasing children's personal safety awareness scores and did not have an effect on the self-esteems scores. These results indicate that the program can be used in educational environments in order to increase students' awareness and knowledge about abuse.

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