Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge Regarding Impact of Excessive Telemedia Usage Among Parents of School-Age Children: A Pre-Experimental Study

Background: Increased screen time among children due to widespread access to telemedia (television, smartphones, video games) poses significant risks to their cognitive, physical, and emotional development. Parental awareness regarding these risks remains inadequate, necessitating structured educational interventions. Objectives: (1) To assess the pre-test and post-test knowledge regarding the impact of excessive telemedia usage among parents of school-age children; (2) To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured teaching programme (STP); (3) To find the association between post-test knowledge scores and selected demographic variables. Methods: A pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was used. Fifty parents of school-age children (6–12 years) were selected through convenience sampling from selected schools of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. A structured knowledge questionnaire comprising 30 items was administered before and after the STP intervention. The post-test was conducted 7 days after the intervention. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and chi-square test. Results: The mean pre-test knowledge score was 10.64 (SD = 5.85), which increased significantly to 23.88 (SD = 3.46) in the post-test. The paired t-test revealed a mean difference of 13.22 (t = 13.57, p < 0.001), confirming a statistically significant improvement. Pre-test showed 54% parents with inadequate knowledge and only 8% with adequate knowledge; post-test showed 74% with adequate knowledge and only 2% with inadequate knowledge. Chi-square analysis revealed significant associations between post-test knowledge and educational qualification (χ² = 28.758, p = 0.0023) and number of children (χ² = 23.469, p = 0.003). Conclusion: The structured teaching programme significantly enhanced parental knowledge about the risks of excessive telemedia usage. Educational interventions targeting parents can play a vital role in mitigating screen-related harms in children.