Hmmm...

"Wholly unaware of the signals they are giving out", eh? Apparently it hasn't occurred to Mr. Richards that maybe the girls actually do want to look good. I'm not saying that one has to wear a short skirt to look good, just that they probably get looked at more by the boys when they wear shorter skirts, and fit it with the other girls. By 12 or 13, it seems to me, many girls are aware of/interested in that sort of thing, and society just doesn't want to accept that fact.

So they have to wear long pants now. Maybe they'll start wearing very tight (but long!) pants. Or low-cut blouses. Or whatever. They'll find some way to express themselves that'll displease the adults. Won't be long before Mr. Richards insists all the girls wear burqas. Could it be... is it possible... that he himself finds the girls attractive, and that's what is at the root of all this? :-D