ABSTRACT
This
study investigated the impacts of indecent dressing on the academic performance
of students of College of Education Katsina Ala in Benue state- Nigeria. The
ex-post-facto method of research was used. The population of the study was made
up of 4000 students and 300 teaching staff. Four hundred (400) respondents made
up of teaching staff and students from College of Education Katsina Ala
constituted the sample of the study. A structured 10-item four point rating
type scale questionnaire titled “Causes and Impact of Indecent Dressing Questionnaire”
(CIIDQ) was constructed by the researcher and used to collect data for the
study. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential
statistics. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research
questions while the chi square (x2) test of goodness of fit was used
to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study
showed that provocative dressing destructs the attention of both students and
lecturers during lectures. Also, some leakages of examination questions of
College of Education Katsina Ala can be attributed to sexual favours from
lecturers as a result of indecent dressing. Based on the findings, it was
recommended among others that very practical initiatives must be embarked upon
to educate the student populace about the potential dangers associated with it,
students are to be taught lessons on morality and the strict adherence to our
cultural norms and a dress code in consultation with the fashion department
should be introduced.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Indecent appearance
has come to characterize the dress pattern of many students on the campuses of
higher learning in Nigeria. There is hardly any higher institution of learning
in this country that is not faced with this nauseating problem. The way
students on these campuses of learning particularly, the female ones, dress
seductively leaves much to be desired. What the girls call skirts that they
wear is just “one inch” longer than their pants. When they put on such dresses,
they struggle to sit down, find difficulty in climbing machines, cross gutters
as well as pick anything from the ground. 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. In the case of boys, their pattern of dress is
different. It makes them to look so dirty and very unattractive with unkempt
hairs and dirty jeans having pockets of
holes deliberately created around the knees and the lower part of the trousers allowed to
flow on the ground because they go through their heals into their legs as socks. The waist of their trousers
are lowered and fastened tightly at the middle of the two bottom lobes to
reveal their boxers (pants). And when they are walking, they drag their legs
and one of their hands particularly, the left one, cupping their invisible
scrotum as if they will fall to the ground if not supported. Many of them
because of how they dressed had at one
time or the other become victims of rape, lured into prostitution, used for
ritual purpose, unable to complete their
education or training and also engaged
in other ancillary social and moral
problems like cultism and lying to mention
these few. Although, there are no universally acceptable way or ways of
dressing, dresses are meant to serve some definable purposes, country or region
notwithstanding. They are part of a peoples’ culture and they define their
tribal or ethnic identity. Apart from
dresses being a means for cultural identity, they are for ornamental or
aesthetic purposes, for protection of the body against harsh weather conditions
as well as for covering the intimate parts of the body (Answer.com, 2011;
&Articlesbase.com, 2011). These purposes are important especially as they
form major aspects of a person’s personality. But as important as these
purposes are, they have been defeated by the generation of Nigerian youths
(Articlesbase.com, 2011). Their dress patterns are most times anti-African, and
are invented. They usually dress in a manner that does not show that they are
responsible (nigerianfilms.com, 2009). The African culture and particularly
that of Nigeria encourage modesty in appearance as do the Christian and Islamic
religions where the larger population of these youths claim to be worshipping
God. This un-African dress pattern among the youths of this generation has
generated lots of concern and worry among the citizenry of the country.
Religious institutions as well as institutions of learning are not resting on
their oars to watch this immoral act being perpetuated, but they speak against
it. For instance, Olori (2003) reported that at the University of Abuja rules
were made that any dress won must cover intimate parts of the body, must not
expose the breast, stomach, navel and bare chest.
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 College of Education Katsina Ala 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. One is not
however surprised because what is typical of most Nigerian administrators is
always a wide gap between policy formulation and execution. Indecent dressing
even though is not accepted as the normality, is seen to be gaining ascendancy.
One then wonders what becomes of the society tomorrow with the caliber of
students that are being trained. If rules are made for people, they are supposed
to be adequately informed why such rules are made. It is for this very reason
and against this background that the problem of the study is to investigate the
impact of indecent dressing on the academic performance of students of College
of Education Katsina Ala as well as suggests solutions that could remedy the
further spread of this immoral act on campuses of learning in Nigeria.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The
purpose of this study is to find out the impact of indecent dressing on the
academic performance of students of College of Education Katsina Ala and
specifically, the study will;
1. Determine
the causes of indecent dressing on the academic performance of students of
College of Education Katsina Ala.
2. Establish
the impact of indecent dressing on the academic performance of students of
College of Education Katsina Ala.
1.4 Research Questions
The
following research questions guided the study:
1)
What are the causes
of indecent dressing on the academic performance of students of College of Education
Katsina Ala?
2)
What are the impacts
of indecent dressing on the academic performance of students of College of
Education Katsina Ala?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The
following hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance
1.
There are no
significant causes of indecent dressing on the academic performance of students
of College of Education Katsina Ala.
2.
Indecent dressing
does not significantly impact on the academic performance of students of
College of Education Katsina Ala.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE STUDY
This study is
important to student, parents, guidance and university’s security personnel. To
students, the findings of this study reveals the negative impact of indecent
dressing on them and how it affect’s their academic performances. It shows how
indecent dressing makes female students prone to sexual assaults.
To parents and
guidance, the finding from this study elucidates the roles of parents and
guidance in reducing the rate of indecent dressing among students in the higher
institution. Majority of the indecency among higher institution students
started before they were admitted into the higher institution due to the lack
of proper parental guidance.
The responsibility
of security personnel is make the law breakers face the wrath of the law.
Security personnel have a lot of responsibilities to take in reducing the rate
of indecent dressing among students in the higher institution. These were
exhaustibly discussed in this study.
This study will
enhance the existing body of literature by contemplating the areas of the
literature that have not yet been examined or considered and incorporating
these factors into the current study. The study will thus form the basis for
further studies in the field.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this
study is restricted to indecent dressing on students academic performance.
1.8 LIMITATION OF THE
STUDY
Some of the major
constraints the researchers encountered in putting up this research include
lack of time, lack of willingness to give information by respondent and also
limited resources.