TEENS & FREEDOM
10th annual survey results

Gang symbols?
Ban: 75%.
Don't ban: 25%.
Leila Haydari, 16, of Benicia, Calif., says a school security guard made her take off her bandanna because he thought it could be mistaken for a gang symbol. (It was not.)

Baggy clothes?
Ban: 19%.
Don't ban: 81%.
Says Bryan Carver, 13, of Madison, Conn.: "I'm a skater, so I'm into baggy clothes.'' But not at school.

Uniforms?
Pro: 17%.
Anti: 83%.
"For me, uniforms are not a problem," says Josah Drimi, 17, of Mercy High School in Omaha.

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

When cool creates conflict

Students and schools clash over gang symbols, school uniforms and short skirts.

Holly Hill, 15, figured she'd smoothly avoided any conflicts over clothes by hitting the Gap with her mom to buy her high school wardrobe.

She figured wrong. Neil Richmond, in his first year as principal of Holly's Midland, Texas, school, had just revived a dormant dress code: no gang-type attire, caps, saggy pants or bandannas. And, under his new edict, even Holly's new shorts and skirts violated the rules (too short).

Richmond says the dress code helps him spot non-students on campus. "We have much less disruptive activity." But Holly's mom, Kathy Hill, saw it differently: "I was a little upset -- now you have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. Some [restrictions are] required because of the gang problems; I just wish there were another way."

Few things matter more to teenagers than their looks, yet schools nationwide are making clothes calls on what's allowed, targeting items associated with gangs, such as baggy pants and bandannas. Four in 10 U.S. schools have dress codes. From hair scrunchies to scarves, items once considered just fads now are red-flagged as possible gang symbols. And kids who never dreamed a trip to the Gap could mean a visit to the principal's office feel torn between self-expression and safety.

Eight in 10 teens responding to USA WEEKEND's Teens & Freedom survey say they do not want school officials to tell them what to wear. They also said no to public school uniforms.

But when asked about specific clothing items, the picture changes dramatically: A large number of kids would limit many of the items principals find most disruptive:

-- 3 in 4 would ban clothing with gang symbols.

-- 4 in 10 would ban bare midriffs.

-- 4 in 10 would ban nose, tongue, lip or eye rings.

-- 1 in 3 would ban short skirts.

Marcie Hendrickson, 16, a 10th-grader at Fernley (Nev.) High School, thinks kids place too much importance on what they wear. Unlike the majority of teens surveyed, she favors school uniforms. "It would mild down a bunch of conflict [and] relax all of the segregation going on over people's clothes," Marcie says. "Not everyone can afford Nike or Adidas apparel."

Clip rings?
Ban: 44%.
Don't ban: 56%.
Laura Gehrman 17, pierced her own lip last year and wears her lip ring to school in Brillion, Wis. It's "a form of self-expression.''

Students think some restrictions are fine

Teens surveyed show a surprising tolerance of many school rules:

Censorship. More than half -- 58% -- say schools should be able to restrict foul language in writing assignments. 3 in 10 say it's OK to ban offensive books and magazines. 4 in 10 say schools should have the right to censor student newspapers.

Even students who oppose censorship understand the reasons behind it. Josh Ulrich, 14, is a ninth-grader at Mountoursville (Pa.) Area High School, which lost 16 students to the crash of TWA Flight 800 last July. He objected to the school's decision not to air classroom TV news reports about airplane crashes in the disaster's aftermath: "I'm sure there would have been family members who would have been upset." But "we should have been given the choice."

National Anthem. 7 in 10 teens say students should be required to stand during the national anthem. "It's more than just a song," says Jennifer McMurray, 13, a seventh-grader at Shiloh Christian School in Springdale, Ark. "It talks about our country having freedom. You need to have respect for that."

School prayer. Students are split on this controversial issue. More than half - 57% - agree that public school officials should not have the right to lead students in prayer. But 43% think it ought to be allowed.