Results roundup: What 218,350 teens said about freedom and rules.
Complete national survey results, plus look at the differences among several cities across the nation
Rules at school: 75% of teens would ban clothes with gang symbols at school. But, 83% oppose school uniforms.
New technology, from Internet access to the V-chip, poses dilemmas for kids and parents
Town curfews and mall limitations have gained popularity to fight crime. 50% of teens surveyed support nighttime community curfews for protection.
Tattoos taboo? 17% say tattoos on teens should be prohibited.
Results and comments from our Quick Poll about alchohol breath tests -- your rights vs. your safety.
Find out what battles over rights are being fought.
Roundtable: Teens talk to Tipper Gore about age limits and being allowed to make their own decisions.
Teen idols say they have limits and rules to follow, too

Three new battle fronts for teen rights

The latest round of face-offs over teen freedoms nationwide:

Skateboard enthusiasts from rural Vermont to Sacramento, Calif., are facing off against city governments and property owners who have banned their hobby. In Altoona, Pa., where skateboarders are subject to fines of $50-$100, Ryan Wilt, 15 (above left, with friend Adam Givler), petitioned the city council to build a skateboard park. "People see us and think, 'Oh, no! Hide the valuables and call the police,' " Ryan says.

Alcohol breath tests for promgoers are in force at five Arlington, Texas, high schools this spring. Upset students set up an alternative prom site. Home drug testing kits that parents can use on kids also are creating controversy nationwide.

Strip searches are at issue in a case in Conway, Ark., where 12 high school girls taking an off-campus cosmetology course say they were strip-searched - and told they couldn't object or notify parents - after a beauty academy employee's wallet disappeared.

What rights do students really have?

Supreme Court has sent mixed messages.

Teens may have more rights than they think - but not as many as they want. The Supreme Court, which usually has the final word on the meaning of the Bill of Rights, has been ambivalent on the question, struggling to balance school and parental authority with the rights of individuals - no matter what age.

The high-water mark for student rights was in 1969, when the high court said Des Moines high school students could not be suspended for wearing anti-war armbands. "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights ... at the schoolhouse gate," the court proclaimed.

Since then the court has pulled back, giving school and government officials more power to regulate students' lives. The court has OK'd:

-- Censorship of school newspapers.

-- Police searches of lockers of students suspected of violating the law.

-- Random drug testing of athletes.

In the area of religious freedom, the court has delivered mixed messages: Nothing prevents individual student prayer, but public graduation ceremonies cannot include formal prayers or benedictions.

Partly because the court has been ambivalent, school texts are outdated and students often don't know what they can and can't do. "Schools do a dismal job of teaching students what the First Amendment is all about," says Mark Goodman of the Student Press Law Center.

When considering restrictions on student rights, judges and government officials should consider "the kind of lesson that action teaches our students," warns Robert O'Neil of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, in Charlottesville, Va. O'Neil has a book just out, Free Speech in the College Community, urging caution in limiting student rights.

Skateboarders photo: SKIP BROWN FOR USA WEEKEND