ADELEKE UNIVERSITY,EDE,OSUN STATE.

INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING:
HOW TO CURB INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING IN A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT.

AJOKU.N.GOODLY-22/1002
OLAGUNJU AISHAT-19/0435

SEMINAR IN PUBLIC HEALTH I

PHS 272

MR OSHINEYE ADEOLA

PUBLIC HEALTH, FACULTY OF BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCE.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

 ABSTRACT

 INTRODUCTION

 DEFINITIONS OF INAPPROPRIATE AND APPROPRIATE DRESSING

 EXAMPLES OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

 CAUSES OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

 STUDENTS PERSPECTIVE ON INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

 RULES THAT CAN CURB INAPROPRIATE DRESSING IN THE CLASSROOM

 RULE OF THUMB

 CONCLUSION

ABSTRACT
This paper looks at the meaning of inappropriate dressing and appropriate dressing, some
common examples of inappropriate dressing while explain some major causes of inappropriate
behavior. It also throws light on the perspective of students when it comes to inappropriate
dressing and the impact of it on academic performance while also stating the rules that should be
followed while dressing to class.

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INTRODUCTION
It is increasingly becoming obvious that inappropriate dressing has gradually taken over the
dress code of students in higher institutions of learning in Nigeria and Adeleke university is not
an exception. The menace of inappropriate dressing in most Adeleke university has reached an
alarming proportion. It has become so pervasive that those who dress decently are seen as
abnormal or uncivilized members of the university community. This dressing habit is also visible
in a classroom environment. One can hardly differentiate between some males and female
students and hard-core urban street thugs and prostitutes respectively.

WHAT IS INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING?

Inappropriate dressing can be defined as the wearing clothes that are not appropriate for a
particular occasion or situation; it means deliberate exposure of one’s body to the public, a
practice which is contrary to the acceptable norms and values of the society.
It is now common in public places including the classroom.

WHAT IS APPROPRIATE DRESSING?

Appropriate dressing can be explained as the proper way of dressing or the generally accepted
way of dressing without exposure of vital parts of the body.

EXAMPLES OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

The following are some items that depict inappropriate dressing:
 Anklets
 Nose piercing
 Crop/jump top
 Artificial lashes
 Tinted hair
 Multicolored/bright colored braids
 Dreadlocks
 Ripped/crazy jeans
 Rings
 Heels/stilettos/crocs
 Sleeveless shirts etc

CAUSES OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

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The emergence of inappropriate dressing into the classroom has multifaceted reasons. This is so
because the student’s population is made up of multiplicity of young men and women from
different tribes with different interest, religions, training and background.
Therefore the reasons why a student of Adeleke University will dress inappropriately are varied
on the following:
 Poor parenting
We all begin life solely dependent on our parents who if are capable of raising us
successfully, we leave home as self-respecting and self-responsible adults. The way a
parent behaves and dresses around their child influences their decisions and plays a vital
role in the development of their character in future.

 Public recognition and peer pressure

The relationship between peers and inappropriate dressing cannot be over emphasized as
it is natural for everyone to belong, to feel connected with others and be with others who
share studies, interests and circumstances. The influence of peers is of critical importance
because opinions of peers usually carry more weight than any force. Negative peer
influence leads to bad choices in dressing.

 Foreign influence and fading value

Lots of people have been rightly pointed fingers at the increasing westernization of all
facets of our lives and the gradual but sure erosion of our social values and norms.
Inappropriate dressing is a serious assault to our cultural values and norms. The high
moral dignity surrounding dressing in Africa is vanishing in the name of fashion and
modernity.

 Mass Media
The mass media is an agent of socialization that affects the morals students learn to
emulate. The display of indecently dressed people on the televisions, magazines,
newspapers through music videos, advertisement and films affect the dressing of the
younger generation (students).

THE STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

Inappropriate dressing also known as ‘dress to kill’ has become rampant in universities which
has also extended to the classroom environment . Akor (2006)²posited that some male students

put on trousers and tops with strange designs and pictures of scary animals.

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The proliferation of indecent dressing among students in the classroom has observed to be

promoted by common phrases that students often use when they are confronted with this

wrongdoing. Phrases like ‘only god can judge me’, ‘free me abeg’, ‘everyone is entitled to

his/her opinion’ and ‘mind your business’ among others have become so common among

students in Adeleke university and the society, so much so that one finds it difficult to condemn

such attitude because the reward for such is usually backlash in form of insults, malice, hatred

and condemnation.

If one ‘dresses to kill’(Ahmed, in Akpan,2018)¹ as students normally put it, one cannot help

but marvel at the number of students that must have been ‘dying morally’ in our institutions of

higher learning as a result of this indecent dressing.

IMPACT OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Inappropriately dressed students are victims of academic failure because they have little or no

time for their studies. Most of such students are unhealthily concerned with how they look and

appear in the latest provocative dress. Several of them battle with carry over courses with the

consequences of staying longer in school than is normal to graduate. Some of them even

graduate with weak grades while some may not graduate at all having outlived their studentship

in the university and not being able to pass the prescribed course. Some of them become

confrontational and frustrated. If they are not thugs, they are armed robbers, prostitutes, home or

marriage breakers, drug traffickers or addicts.

RULES THAT CAN CURB INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING IN THE CLASSROOM

 Holes or slits in clothing are not acceptable.

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  No athletic type of shorts or pants may be worn. This includes running shorts, basketball
shorts, yoga or exercise with plastic at the hem.
 Sunglasses, combs and gloves are not to be worn in the building or during class whether
inside or out.
 All hats, bandanas, hair rollers and head covering will be prohibited inside the buildings
and during classes.
 No sleeveless shirts for boys or girls. Any clothing worn in a way that suggests gang
affiliation is not permitted (for example: one pant rolled to the knee, bandanas hanging
loosely from the pocket.
 Slacking or sagging is not acceptable
 For females, piercings should be limited to ears only and only stud earrings are allowed.
 Clothing that are excessively tight, loose, have inscription or are revealing will not be
allowed.

RULE OF THUMB
If you are in doubt of a particular garment or outfit DO NOT wear it.

CONCLUSION
The rate at which inappropriate dressing has infiltrated into the moral fiber and academic
progression of Adeleke University is alarming. Most females are now preoccupied with what
to put on to attract the opposite sex than what to read to become someone responsible in
future. Some of the males also spend their precious time wearing tattered dresses all in the
name of fashion with little consideration for moral uprightness .The way you dress is the way
you will be addressed. Inappropriate dressing is an act of discipline which could stunt
learning process. A student who lacks discipline can hardly learn because learning and
discipline are the two sides of a coin.

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 PHOTO GALLERY

EXAMPLES OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

NOSE PIERCING FAKE LASHES

ANKLETS RIPPED JEANS

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 RINGS CROP TOP

CAUSES OF INAPPROPRIATE DRESSING

PUBLIC RECOGNITION AND PEER PRESSURE

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 POOR PARENTING

REFRENCES
Akpan G.E (2018). Effects of indecent dressing on undergraduate students on university of
Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. International Journal of physical education, sports and health, 5(27,359-
365)
Akor, R.A. (2012). Indecent dressing on campuses: The way out. In Ortese, P.T. (Ed)
Answers .com(2013) dressing indecently,
THE PUNCH newspaper. (29th January 2023)
The Sunday News,2015
Ahmed Muhammed Auwal(Jan. 29 2015)
Ruth Coji.Dangers of indecent dressing(Oct. 20 2014).
http://www.nico.gov.ng/index.php/category-list-2/270-dangers-of-indecent-dressing.
Oyeleye A. Indecent dressing: a social malady. Retrieved July 30, 2013.

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