ATTITUDE OF POLYTECHNIC STUDENTS TOWARDS CURBING INDECENT DRESSING IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

Abstract

Indecent dressing among polytechnic students poses a serious challenge to institutional efforts to enforce acceptable dress codes, particularly where students’ attitudes influence compliance. This study, therefore, investigated the attitudes of polytechnic students towards curbing indecent dressing in Southwest Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The population comprised 55,801 students from three polytechnics in Southwest Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 422 respondents for the study. Data were analysed using mean and rank order to answer the research question, while four null hypotheses were tested using the independent-samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the .05 level of significance. Data were collected using a structured 15-item instrument titled Attitude Towards Curbing Indecent Dressing Questionnaire (ATCIDQ). The instrument was validated by five experts, while its reliability was established using the test–retest method, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.87. The findings revealed that polytechnic students had positive attitudes towards curbing indecent dressing. The students indicated that curbing indecent dressing improves the reputation of the school, promotes discipline among students, and helps to reduce sexual harassment. The study concluded that polytechnic students generally support efforts aimed at promoting decent dressing and maintaining acceptable standards of appearance within the school environment. Based on the findings, it was recommended that guidance counsellors should sustain students’ positive attitudes towards curbing indecent dressing through regular seminars, workshops, orientation programmes, group counselling, and awareness campaigns that promote discipline, self-respect, moral values, and acceptable dressing practices.