CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Indecent dressing and other antisocial
acts like; drug abuse and cultism, has become a major issue in moral
misconduct among students of Nigerian tertiary institutions. Indecent or
crazy dressing, also known as dress to kill is rampant among
universities, polytechnics and colleges of education students,
particularly the females; all in the name of wanting to look sexy,
sensual, scintillating and stimulating, not remembering that they ought
to look decent and responsible. Wearing skimpy clothes, also known as
fitted, strapless and short blouses and sagging of trousers low waist or
ass down, by boys and even girls, cleavages and sleeveless shirts, also
known as spaghetti or off-shoulder, are major moral problems associated
with decency in dressing faced in tertiary institutions today.
Apart from the skimpy and tight fitting nature of these dresses, they
are again transparent; revealing certain parts of the bodies that under
normal dressing patterns ought to be hidden away from the glare of
people. Ironically, these are the renowned modern fashion trends among
students nowadays.
Nowadays, students now dress indecently
for reasons such as poor parenting, peer pressure, wrong use of the
Internet, fading values as well as demonic influence among others. The
negative sides of indecent dressing are that many of these students
become victims of rape on campus; they are lured into prostitution by
peers because of the way they dress. Subsequently, they are tempted and
influenced to become members of one cult group or the other and these
result in poor academic performance.
In order to curb indecent
dressing on Nigerian campuses, practical initiatives must be embarked
upon to educate the student populace about the potential consequences
associated with it. Although, the steps being taking by many tertiary
institutions to reduce immoralities and indecent dressing on Nigerian
campuses are highly commendable. Today, dress codes and strict rules
enforcing compliance of students have been introduced in colleges of
education, polytechnics and universities across the country.
Improper dressings of students of Alvan
Ikoku Federal College of Education has a high tendency of impacting
negatively on their academic performance as the output of male lecturers
most especially can reduce when they concentrate on watching such
provocative dressings during lectures. Female students on the other hand
spend so much money in buying such useless dresses instead of spending
them on their academic materials. Their indecent dressing also makes
them patronize discotheques, night clubs, brothels and hotels where they
can have fun at the expense of their studies. The possibility of some
male lecturers and even female lecturers falling prey to such seductive
dressings which may result in sexual favours between the lecturers on
one hand and students on the other hand is always high. This will surely
be a hindrance to quality education; as such students will not be able
to perform up to the expectation of their prospective employers and
consequently lead to loss of revenue to the state. Aside that, the poor
performance of students as a result of indecent dressing can be linked
to unemployment. This is so because students who dress indecently have
divided attention for their studies and are therefore unable to receive
adequate practical training which is a prerequisite for employment by
most companies. And because such companies are not ready to spend extra
money training such partially groomed graduates, they will later find
themselves joining bad gangs after their graduation. It is in the light
of this that this research is aimed at investigating the possible causes
of indecent dressing, its negative impacts on academic performance of
students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College Education, Owerri, Imo state,
Nigeria and also suggest the possible solutions.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
It is increasingly becoming obvious that
indecent dressing has gradually taken over the dress pattern of
students in higher institutions of learning in Nigeria and the students
of Alvan Ikoku Federal College Education, Owerri, Imo state, is no
exception. It has become like an epidemic spreading so fast and the
earlier something is done about it, the better for the future of our
desperate and vulnerable youth. For better understanding, is necessary
to know the meaning of decent and indecent dressing. Decent dressing can
be explained as the proper way of dressing or the generally accepted
way of dressing without exposing vital parts of the human body. Indecent
dressing is the improper and provocative way of dressing relative to
the society or culture in which it is being perpetrated. This is to say
that indecent dressing cannot be properly defined in isolation of the
societal norms or religious boundaries. What is indecent to you in
Nigeria is decent elsewhere. This brings the assertion by some school of
thoughts that indecent dressing is mainly due to “foreign culture.”
Meaning this way of dressing is alien to the Nigerian culture and is
therefore an affront to our very existence and identity. This is a case
that needs collective efforts and attention from everyone in the country
to fight against. This is an issue that we need to get rid of in our
society to have a nation that is full of sane people.
1.3 Research Questions
This research will be carried out to answer the following research questions:
i) what is the prevalence of indecent dressing among the students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education?
ii) what are the
prevailing factors that influence the attitudes of students of Alvan
Ikoku Federal College of Education towards indecent dressing?
iii) what are the reasons
for wearing indecent dress among the students of Alvan Ikoku Federal
College of Education?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to
investigate the impact of indecent dressing on the academic performance
of the students of Alvan Ikoku Federal college of education. However,
the specific objectives of the study are: to;
i) to inquire the
prevalence of indecent dressing among the students of Alvan Ikoku
Federal College of Education
ii) to survey the
prevailing factors that influence the attitudes of students of Alvan
Ikoku Federal College of Education towards indecent dressing
iii) to establish the
reasons for wearing indecent dress among the students of Alvan Ikoku
Federal College of Education
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study sought to investigate the
impact of indecent dressing on the academic performance of the students
of Alvan Ikoku Federal college of education. Parents as well as school
management have a big part in curbing the prevailing indecent dressing
among the Nigerian students.
This study will also contribute to
academic literature by bringing a wide difference on the importance of
putting on decent dress from indecent dress and also contribute to the
field of political science. It will serve as a foundation for further
research to be conducted in Nigeria.
1.6 Research Hypothesis
The research hypotheses to be tested include:
i) there will be a significant relationship between indecent dressing and academic performance of students
ii) there will be a
significant difference between students who dress indecently and those
who dress decently on their academic performance
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study will cover undergraduate
students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College Education, Owerri, Imo state.
Variables of interest include: indecent dressing and academic
performance. While indecent dressing is the independent variable,
academic performance is dependent variable.
1.8 Limitation of the study
The study focused on investigating the
impact of indecent dressing on the students’ academic performance in
Alvan Ikoku Federal college of education. Apart from the time constraint
faced by the researcher, there was no other issue faced by the
researcher.
1.8 Definitions of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Academic Performance: This
refers to the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has
achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees such as High School and Bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.
Indecent Dressing: This is an improper and provocative way of dressing relative to the society or culture in which it is being perpetrated
Decent Dressing: This is proper way of dressing or the generally accepted way of dressing without exposing vital parts of the human body.