CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  BACKGROUND OF 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.