Many teens think it's cool to go coatless in winter.

Despite frigid weather during "Spirit Week" last week, most of these Ben Davis Junior High School students are without hats or gloves as they go from the bus to the school. A few were coatless or wore only long-sleeved hooded sweatshirts in the bitter weather. -- Sam Riche / The Star Tips for teens on how to dress warmly and still be stylish If bulky outerwear bothers your child, suggest these options: • Wear fleece. It's colorful and relatively inexpensive. • Dress in layers. They're especially important if your child will be outside a long time, says Jeff Coates, an outdoorsman with TrueNorth and Associates on the Northwestside. Avoid cotton for the layer next to the skin, to prevent moisture build-up from body heat. Look for fabrics that wick away moisture. They're available at many sports and adventure stores. Fleece is a great second layer and can be the last layer. But a nylon shell cuts wind, repels moisture and helps retain body heat. • Create an emergency kit. Your child can tuck the items into a backpack or car trunk. Steve King, manager of the Plainfield Galyan's store, says inexpensive hand- and foot-warming packets are easily activated and can last eight hours. An aluminum-foil-like "emergency space blanket" folds to the size of a deck of cards and can keep one or two people warm, says Brian Holzhausen of Hancock County, an outdoorsman who directs Do Indiana Off-Road. The kit can also include a hat, gloves and winter socks.

Brrrraving the cold

By Ellen Miller

ellen.miller@indystar.com

February 3, 2004

It's a winter-morning drama playing all over town: "The Young and the Coatless."

It stars a frustrated mom -- "Put your coat on! Don't you know it's cold outside?" -- and her blithe youth, who insists a hooded sweatshirt is protection enough even during the kind of bitter cold that prompted school delays and closings last week.

"The other day, I saw a kid getting on the bus in a T-shirt," says Michele Rector, eighth-grade guidance counselor at Ben Davis Junior High School on the Westside. "On a cold day, maybe 10 (percent) to 25 percent have hats or gloves. I don't think I see anybody in a pair of boots. Somewhere between 50 (percent) and 65 percent of kids have a coat (on)."

While the recent spate of super-bitter cold drove some coat-averse kids to give in and don cold-weather gear, some still opted for sweatshirts or shirtsleeves.

Kids offer different reasons for coatlessness, but it basically boils down to coolness and convenience.

"A lot of my friends and I prefer to wear hoodies. It's easier going from place to place," says Ali Cialdella, 14, an eighth-grader at St. Michael Catholic School. "It's so hard to accessorize with a big winter coat," she adds.

When the Westside teen knew she'd be outside a few hours early last week, to build an igloo with the kids next door, she did wear a jacket, boots, hat and scarf.

"It's OK," she says, "because the neighbors have known me since I was 7, and they've seen me in anything."

But most winter mornings, says mom Sherry Cialdella, "I'm always on Ali: 'You need to take your coat!' "

Like many parents of adolescents, Sherry has decided the bundle-up battle is not worth winning at any price.

That's a sane approach, says Dee Love, a child development specialist at Purdue University and parent of an 18-year-old high school senior.

"He and I just had this discussion not too long ago," Love says. "I asked him, 'Why don't you want to take your coat?' I expressed my concerns about him getting cold.

"He says his reasons are practical: 'My locker is too small; I'm not outside all that much.'

"Then we tried to explore some options and settled on a long-sleeved T-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt with pockets in front where he can put his hands.

"Also, he just got his first car, and I gave him a winter emergency kit that includes socks, gloves, a blanket and packets of hand and toe warmers. At least, in the worst-case scenario, he has something to keep him warm."

Few reasons to worry

Rose M. Mays, associate dean of the Indiana University nursing school and a specialist in adolescent health, says parents shouldn't be overly concerned about the weather's impact on kids.

"Colds are not caused by cold, but by viruses," she says. As for frostbite and other conditions that can arise from prolonged exposure to bitter cold, "The amount of time they're out in the cold is miniscule, usually. There is that chance the bus will break down, but that is an unusual scenario."

Mays says that when her now-grown daughter was a teen, she would often forgo her coat in the cold, but Mays didn't sweat it.

"To me, it's not a big concern," she says. "I trust our young people to come in out of the cold."

A cultural difference?

Mays and Rector have noticed a cultural aspect to coatlessness. They say it's more common among white kids.

It's something Cheryl Holt, an African-American whose two sons attend Arlington High School on the Northeastside, also has seen.

"I have a couple of white friends; it's like they like this weather," she says, noting her belief that black people are more susceptible to feeling cold.

Whatever the reason, her 16-year-old son, Antonio Batteast, an Arlington junior, wouldn't want to face winter without his black, knee-length, hooded fake-fur coat.

"It's a fashionable coat," he says with obvious pride.

Call Star reporter Ellen Miller at (317) 444-6130.