(This is a news item I read from the Daily Graphic on Monday February 16, 2009)
The authorities at the Central University in Ghana have decided to introduce dress codes and hairstyles for students with the aim of fighting indecent dressing on campus. According to the code, dresses that expose the breast, upper thighs, loins and panties are regarded as indecent. Examples of these clothes are transparent and tight-fitting blouses, sweaters and sleeveless tops, short blouses, T-shirt and dresses with low necklines. Others are shorts and tight-fitting slacks and skirts and trousers with stylish cuts. The students are also not allowed to wear more than one earrings and T-shirts with offensive inscriptions are not permitted. The men are required to wear trousers and shirts with collar and tie or decent African wear. According to the Head of Public Relations Department, the code was developed based on the philosophy of the school which are faith, excellence and integrity. Failure to comply with such directives attract sanctions. Among many other knowledge issues one can raise include this:
To what extent are we justified for making moral judgments in a multicultural educational institution?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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2 comments:
I'm getting addicted to this!!!!
Mores seriously, in a multicultural educational institution, judgments should be made very tentatively because what may be wrong in one culture may be right in another. However, since the world is not strictly divided into isolated and insulated communities and cultures beliefs and perceptions have evolved and progressed to a point where in many cases, there is a borderline definition for what is right and what is wrong one can to some extent make valid moral judgments.
It's interesting because the judgements being made in this case are about appearance.
Sometimes when ethics and moral judgements are discussed, it's easy to slip into using examples like not using the left hand to pass things in Ghana, or countries where burping after a meal is or isn't acceptable. But aren't these kinds of examples more about conventions than morality?
Can we draw a dividing line between conventions (ie this is what we do because this is the way we've always done it, and we like it that way) and morals (ie this is what we believe to be ethically right or wrong)?
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