Shopping for school clothes

EAST MEADOW, NY (WABC) -- For 10-year-old Skylar Hansen and her mom Elissa, back to school shopping is more like an advanced negotiation.

"We disagree on a lot of stuff, and a lot of times she's good and she compromises with me," Skylar Hansen said.

"It's very stressful shopping," Elissa Hansen said.

The fight over what to wear to school is nothing new.

But, parents say more than ever, they're fighting the increasing temptations of a popular culture that values bare skin and sex appeal over almost everything else.

You need not look any farther than the women's clothing section of any Target store, with its skinny jeans and see-through tops to find the latest chapter in the endless saga of marketing vs. mom.

"The advertisers are going right after teenagers and they do a great job," Ed Escobar, the Principal of Mineola High School.

Escobar says he can't remember a time when his dress code has been this important.

By the end of the school year, he says his office is filled with articles of clothing teachers have confiscated because they are just too revealing.

"They're coming to school like they're going out to a block party or to the beach. And you have to try to really reign that in," Escobar said.

Mineola High School sends boys home if their pants are too baggy or too low.

Short shorts are strictly forbidden for girls.

"You're supposed to wear shorts that are up to your middle finger," explained one female student.

But, parents say it's harder and harder to reach an agreement over their kids' apparel, and in the aisles of some stores, the intense negotiations will continue.

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back to school guide, education news, josh einiger

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