Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is an important concern in India, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, renders strong support for the protection of the children. It can be from grievous crimes of sexual harassment, sexual assault and pornography. It is a robust legal framework to address issues like reporting, investigation, trial, judgement, compensation and rehabilitation mechanisms. Thereby the Act takes care of the interests of children at every stage of judicial proceedings. This study investigates the awareness and attitude of school students in Ernakulam district, Kerala, about the POCSO Act and CSA. We have distributed the questionnaire to the selected schools of the Ernakulam district for the base of the study. We find a lot of gaps such as awareness, reporting, limited knowledge and other legal safeguards. We have improved the communication and education styles with its multimedia and internet facilities. With its progress it has brought a lot of threats to the society such as cybercrimes and others (UNODC,2021). By the use of smart phone and internet use, child sexual abuse, cyberbullying and grooming have become over powering among the children as noted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Ministry of Home Affairs [MHA], 2023). This study brings to each one of us on the improvement of awareness programmes on legal frame work of India. Methodology: A questionnaire-based study was organized across Ernakulam district with the help of various government and private schools in urban and rural areas. 520 students aged 14 to 18 were randomly selected. We had selected 520 students randomly from 14 to 18 years of age. There were 18 questions given to them and collected back systematically. Finally, the result was analyzed. Objective: The study was to assess the level of awareness, attitude, and source of knowledge and to recommend improvements in legal literacy and policy frameworks in the schools.
