| This study examined the effects of a video presentation of basic personal safety skills to first-grade children. The Personal Safety Questionnaire (PSQ), Parent's Perceptions Questionnaire (PPQ), and Teacher's Perceptions Questionnaire (TPQ) were used to identify any changes due to watching the What Tadoo video. Forty-six first-grade children from Teton County School District ;Results indicated that after watching and discussing the What Tadoo video, there were no significant differences between control and treatment groups with regard to knowledge of personal safety concepts or fear levels. Significant differences were found when teachers and parents rated participants' positive (physical affection, talking about types of touching, assertiveness with peers, and following safety rules) and negative behaviors (difficulty separating from parent, constantly seeking attention, crying easily, refusal to obey, clinging to teacher or parent, inappropriate sexual behavior, inhibition about inappropriate touches, withdrawal or regression, physical complaints, and concerns about being hurt or attacked). Teachers and parents perceived treatment group children as demonstrating significantly less negative behavior, and less positive behavior, than their control group peers (at the.05 level of significance). No significant difference was found between boys' and girls' knowledge of personal safety concepts or their feelings of safety. Parents found girls to exhibit significantly more positive behavior, while they rated boys as demonstrating significantly more negative behaviors, irrespective of control or treatment group membership.;The What Tadoo video appears to provide a safe and relatively innocuous vehicle for teaching personal safety concepts. This video may serve best as a review of previously learned information to be followed by rehearsal of prevention skills.;A pre- and post-test control group design was utilized. Data were collected one week before video presentation and after presentation and discussion of the video. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to examine the data. The four hypotheses postulated focused on increased knowledge regarding personal safety concepts, increased feelings of safety and increased positive behavior for participants who watched and discussed the What Tadoo video, and differences in scores between boys and girls. |
