Informing the Child Safety and Protection Content of an Indian Preschool TV Program

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Paper Session: Children, Adolescents, and the Media Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

The study aimed to inform the child protection and safety programming content of Galli Galli Sim Sim, a children’s television program in India. A qualitative study was conducted with 203 Indian experts in Delhi, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, from December 2014 to March 2015. Experts completed surveys and participated in interviews addressing child protection and safety issues relevant to children ages 3 to 7 years. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, translated and qualitatively analyzed. Eleven key issues emerged: Child supervision/unaccompanied children/parent monitoring; Child labor/child trafficking/child kidnapping; Child abuse (physical/sexual, including rape and other violations of child’s dignity); Home safety (including accidents)/food security/clothes security; Stranger safety/Dealing with strangers; Homelessness/street children/abandoned/orphaned children; Children with disabilities (physical or mental challenges)/Stigmatizing by religion/gender/safe from illiteracy; School safety; Disaster management; Traffic and road safety; and Issues related to poverty. Experts are well-positioned to inform child protection and safety content for a children’s television program.

Authors

• Donna Howard, U of Maryland

• Deepti Mehrotra, Policy Innovations

• Dina L. G. Borzekowski, Univ. of Maryland, Sch of Public Health