Journal of Basic and Applied Research International

Background: Television and other screen-based media can influence adolescent knowledge, attitudes, emotions, daily routines, and behaviour. School-based health education may improve students’ awareness of these effects.

Objective: To assess baseline knowledge regarding the influence of television on behavioural changes among high school students and evaluate the effectiveness of a planned teaching programme.

Methods: A quantitative evaluative, pre-experimental one-group pre-test–post-test design was used. Sixty high school students in Jaipur were selected by purposive sampling. Knowledge was measured with a 25-item self-structured multiple-choice questionnaire. The tool underwent expert content validation and showed split-half reliability of 0.82. A planned teaching programme was delivered after the pre-test, and the post-test was conducted five days later. Data were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, a paired t-test and a chi-square test.

Results: Before the intervention, 70.0% of students had poor knowledge and 30.0% had average knowledge; none had good knowledge. After the intervention, 73.3% had good knowledge, 26.7% had average knowledge, and none remained in the poor category. Mean knowledge score increased from 11.82 ± 2.63 to 19.82 ± 2.11. The paired t-value was -20.40 (df = 59; p < 0.05), indicating a statistically significant improvement. Among the demographic variables examined, only self-reported health disturbances related to television viewing showed a significant association with pre-test knowledge (χ² = 11.85, df = 1, p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The planned teaching programme was effective in improving high school students’ knowledge regarding the influence of television on behavioural changes. School and community health nurses may use structured media-literacy education as part of adolescent health-promotion activities.