Modesty standards are enforced at area high school proms — just as they are during the regular school week, say school administrators.

But the enforcement differs from school to school.

In the Nebo School District, (as in the other two Utah County school districts) dress standards mirror the ideals of the school, said spokeswoman Lana Hiskey.

That generally means no bare shoulders, bare midriffs or bare backs.

If students show up at the prom in violation "we just ask them to put something on (over it)," said Lynn Jerratt, an assistant vice-principal at American Fork High School.

"Often they have it out in the car. They usually leave the house (properly attired)," he said. If the girl doesn't have a shawl or cover-up available, the school does.

Orem High School has a no-bare-shoulders policy as well but does allow spaghetti straps, said principal Jane Lindhout.

As for strapless dresses?

"I can't imagine putting a 16-year-old in one of those," she said.

Usually the girls put on their date's jacket if they are showing too much skin or if they get cold. The school keeps a supply of "ugly T-shirts" on hand but hasn't had to use them at proms, she said.

"There's a point when you say to parents, 'It's your choice,'" she said.

She said the length of dresses follows a rule of thumb: "If it shows where underwear ought to be, it's too short."

However, vice-principal Joel Miller was more specific. The length of a dress — in school or at the dances — should reach the tips of the fingers, he said.

Pleasant Grove High School enforces the no-bare-shoulders rule by asking girls to wear the shawls made by the PTA.

"They're quite nice," said assistant principal Jeanette Anderson, who indicated girls asked to wear them have been co-operative.

"We haven't had to send anyone home," she said.

Like other schools in the Alpine School District, Pleasant Grove administrators keep a supply of T-shirts, blue ones, for the improperly dressed. However, they aren't used at the prom.

Administrators have had no issues with length of dresses at the dances.

"Our biggest concern is the upper half of the body," Anderson said.

Dress length is rarely a problem at Timpview High School dances in the Provo District, where the tip-of-the-fingers rule is applied as well as the no bare shoulders rule, said principal George Bayless.

"We have a clothing teacher who made shawls in two or three different colors if the girl doesn't have something in the car," he said.

As a precaution, presidents of each school class meet before a formal dance and review the dress standard so students aren't caught unawares, he said.

"We don't want to send them home. We want them there," Bayless said.

---

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com