Introduction Over the last century, excessive use of media has become a crucial public health concern. 1 Humans have a natural tendency towards observational learning 2 and that is true for children as well. Children tend to mimic what they see often spontaneously and without conscious effort 2 and that makes them the most vulnerable to the ill-effects of electronic media. 3 Hence, the portrayal of violence and vulgarity (VnV) in children's television (TV) content is an issue that warrants much attention on the part of both parents and physicians. 4 More than 35% of children's average awake time is spent on electronic media, 5 with TV being the biggest contributor to their total screen-time. 6-8 A volume of research has linked media and negative youth behaviours, including aggression, alcohol and tobacco use, and earlier involvement in sexual activities. 9-12 On the media, VnV is often depicted in a positive light, with violent and indecent acts often being committed by characters which the children look up to as their role models or superheroes. 13 A close evaluation of about 10,000 hours of broadcast programming over two years showed that violence was depicted in about 60% of the content and it was most prevalent in children's TV shows. 14 Some of the kids' cartoons contain up to 80 violent acts for each one-hour episode. 15 Before the child reaches adulthood, he will have witnessed 200,000 scenes of violence or aggression on TV shows. 12,16 Children naturally tend to mimic what they see, and continued exposure to VnV acts moulds their minds in such a way that they are desensitised to violence in their surroundings 17 and they may even adopt such behaviours. 18 Violence, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation. 19 Vol. 72, No. 2, February 2022 253 RESEARCH ARTICLE A survey of violence and vulgarity in children television programmes: A content analysis, and assessment of perceptions of parents and children (ViCTiM study) Ashraf Jahangeer, 1 Manahil Akmal, 2 Bushra Perveen, 3 Maaz Bin Nazir, 4 Faryal Mustafa, 5 Bilal Ahmed Khan, 6 Hafsa Jabeen, 7 Nighat Mirza, 8 Hajra Ejaz Khilji 9 Abstract Objectives: To quantify the depiction of violence and vulgarity in television programmes for children, and to assess the perception and practices of parents and children about television programmes meant for children. Methods: We conducted this mixed-methods cross-sectional study in Karachi, Pakistan in the months of August- September 2018, after approval from the ethics review board of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi. First, a content analysis of over 102 hours of various television programmes meant for children was performed in the light of the guidelines set out by the World Health Organisation, the United States Federal Communication Commission and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. Seven trained researchers sampled the children prime time throughout a week, including the weekends, using a structured tally sheet. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with dyad of parent-children from the employees' list of a public-sector university. A questionnaire was also administered to assess the practices and perceptions of the parents-children dyad about the programmes. Data was analysed using SPSS 24. Results: Of the 173 subjects, 84(48.6%) were parents and 89(51.4%) were children. The mean age of the children was 9.8±3.7 years. Content analysis comprised 6130 minutes, of which 5442(88.8%) had depictions of violence and vulgarity. Depiction of violence and vulgarity was prevalent on television channels that were watched the most, but there was no significant difference in this regard (p=0.238). Of the parents, 68(81%) expressed concern over the effect of screen time and content on the mental health of their children. Conclusion: Television programmes meant for children were found to be inappropriate with seriously high proportion of violence and vulgarity in their contents. Keywords: Violence, Child health, Mental health, Television, Programme. (JPMA 72: 253; 2022) DOI: https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.2020-774 1,8 Department of Community Medicine, 2 4th Year MBBS Student, 3-7,9 5th Year MBBS Student, Dow Medical College, Dow University Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. Correspondence: Ashraf Jahangeer. Email: ashraf.jahangeer@duhs.edu.pk