Public Etiquette and Societal Sanity: Rethinking Youth Appearance and the Role of Early Childhood Education in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria stands at a cultural crossroads where youth fashion, freedom of expression, and public etiquette intersect. The widespread normalisation of dreadlocks, tattoos, sagging trousers, and indecent dressing among Nigerian youths has transformed cultural symbols into contested expressions of defiance and deviance. This study, anchored in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Blumer’s Symbolic Interactionism, explored the influence of youthful appearance on public etiquette and societal sanity and examined how early childhood education (ECE) can serve as a moral reorientation tool. Using a qualitative descriptive design involving observation and survey methods, 100 youths across five states—Imo, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, and Enugu—were studied. Data revealed that 36% of youths engaged in sagging, 27% wore dreadlocks, and 22% had multiple piercings. Behavioural observations indicated confidence (67%) but confrontational tone (24%), often in public spaces where 57% of interactions occurred near children. Findings suggest a blurring of moral boundaries and the replication of deviant visual culture among impressionable minors. The study concludes that moral education must begin early, integrating etiquette, modesty, and civic values in the ECE curriculum. Recommendations include national dress codes for institutions, parental reorientation, ethical policing, and regulatory oversight of youth-targeted media. These interventions, if implemented systematically, can re-align public conduct with moral integrity and restore Nigeria’s cultural equilibrium.