Decency is priceless. Any society that treasures its continual existence needs to cultivate decency as a virtue in all that it does. Cultivating decency must start from the family which is the smallest unit of the society and the bedrock of any nation.
When things go wrong at the family level definitely it will resonate to the larger society. So, any nation that wants to get things right must begin with the family.
A critical and objective look at today’s Nigerian family will reveal a lot of anomalies. Most of the social and cultural values we held very dear to heart are fast depleting. Values like respect for elders, hard work, honesty, integrity, decency in dressing, among others, are getting difficult to find as the years go by.
Indecent dressing is a growing trend that is sweeping like wildfire among today’s youths. The impact is so ferocious that it seems as if families which should be fighting against the malaise have lost the battle even before it began and a higher and superior authority is needed to save the day.
A close look at most secondary and tertiary school students dressed for school, will get a rational observer wondering if such students are coming from their homes because of the way they are scantily dressed leaving little or nothing to imagination.
Majority of mothers who should inculcate in their children the virtue of decency and as well serve as role models to them, are unfortunately caught up in the frenzy of competing with their children in exposing vital body parts that should be covered as if anyone has ever won a prize for nudity.
Few days ago, findings from a research conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education backed by UNICEF, revealed that among South South and South East States, Anambra has one of the highest number of out-of-school adolescent girls who dropped out as a result of teenage pregnancy.
Indecent dressing could be a contributory factor in this.
The major result of engaging in pre-marital sex is unwanted pregnancy and there is urgent need to curtail this.
Thus, the recent ban on wearing of mini-length uniforms across schools in Anambra through the State’s ministry of education can be described as stepping in of a higher authority to save the day.
Since, most parents seem to have failed in their duty of ensuring that their children are properly dressed, government now stepped in to enforce values which parents originally should have done.
In the recent release from the state ministry of education, the Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh condemned the growing trend of putting on mini-length uniforms to school, saying it goes against the acceptable dress code for schools which is knee length and not above the knee which is fast becoming the norm.
The release charged Education Secretaries to ensure schools comply with the directive to infuse the right morals and discipline in students so that they will grow to be rational human beings.
It further added that failure to get it right at this stage of the life of these young ones is failure to protect their future.
However commendable the directive, there is also need for government to also put in place mechanisms to enforce the directive.
In addition, parents, teachers and other stakeholders should pull efforts together to ensure that the objective of the ban is achieved and while they are ensuring that, parents should also lead by example because their lifestyles have more impact on children than the words of mouth.
WRITTEN BY QUEEN ANIGBOGU
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