Letters from Pyjama Punishment Monthly. "Write to Matron", was a feature introduced to later editions of PPM. No doubt intended to widen its appeal, there were lots of letters such as these about short trousers.

Dear Matron

I live in the UK and a year ago when I was 17 my mother forced me to wear full schoolboy uniform including grey short trousers as a punishment for misbehaviour. Since then I have been educated at home using private tutors and have had to wear my school uniform and short trousers every day including weekends. I am also taken out in school uniform for shopping trips and doctor and dental appointments. Even though I appear a lot younger than 17, I look too old to be still wearing shorts and it can be terribly humiliating. Most schoolboys in the UK wear long trousers by the age of 11 so I look like an older boy dressed like a little boy. Mother has also re-instated  bedtimes and I now have to go to bed at 8.30 each night. I have protested that this is far too early for a boy of 17 but she is adamant. My mother says that short trousers have made me obedient and respectful and she plans to make me wear them for several more years! Are other boys of my age  kept in short trousers and school uniform as a punishment? Do you think my mother is right to treat me this way?

Michael

Dear Michael

Your mother is perfectly entitled to dress you this way. As she is no doubt supporting you financially you must wear what she buys for you. Is it so bad? I bet you look very smart in your uniform. Short trousers are ideal outdoor wear, it is very healthy for a young boy to feel the elements upon his skin. Similarly with bedtimes. 8.30 strikes me as a sensible bedtime during the week when you have lessons the next day. Remember an hour before midnight is worth two afterwards.

Matron

Matron
Older boys would be far better behaved if they were kept dressed as children in school short trousers as Michael was. My father remarried when I was 14 and I became the stepsister to an obnoxious 16 year old boy who had no respect for authority. Daddy was headmaster of a boys prep boarding school in Wales (this was the early 1970s) and promptly put my stepbrother into the school and into short trousers. He was kept in a class of 12 year olds for two years and wore shorts all the time, school holidays included.
When he was 18 he was sent to the senior school but kept in short trousers even though nearly all the other boys wore longs. He stayed at the school for three years and for the last two years was the only boy in his class still in shorts despite being five years older than the other pupils.

Short trousers made him respectful and obedient and he did as he was told without question. Although over two years older, he was always deferential towards me and accepted my authority in all matters. In his twenties he was still sometimes punished by my father by being made to wear short trousers for a weekend which caused him great humiliation particularly in front of my girlfriends who loved teasing him and treating him like a naughty little boy.
Ms Wendy Kirkbright

Dear Wendy
Thank you for your most interesting letter. Your father obviously understood the value of short trousers as a means of imposing discipline. Perhaps you could write again letting us know if you played any part in your step-brother's punishment and how old was your brother when he was finally allowed out of short trousers?
Matron

Matron

My stepbrother was punished by being made to wear short trousers up to the age of 27. He was made to wear them with his prep school uniform so he looked like an overgrown schoolboy. Typically he was kept like this for a weekend or two but he also had to spend two whole weeks of a family holiday in his punishment clothes when he was 24.
He hated being teased by my girlfriends and his face would go crimson with shame and embarrassment at their comments but he always managed to stave off the tears. He would often sneak off to his bedroom when my friends arrived at the house but I would go upstairs and drag him down to the sitting room by his ear so they could have a good laugh at his expense. They used to really torment him.
My father initiated most of his punishments and often took my step-brother out in his school uniform complete with short trousers several times during these periods.He often attracted strange looks as he undeniably looked too old to be dressed as he was. When we were on our family holiday we went to the cinema and for walks in the local park with him in his short trousers with his blazer and cap. He hated the humiliation but it certain made him well behaved. He looked very sweet and angelic.
Ms Wendy Kirkbright

Dear Wendy
Thank you for writing again and giving us a further insight into your fathers treatment of your step-brother. If the ultimate outcome was that of  a well disciplined, well behaved male then it was all worth while and you played your part in achieving this. A little bit of teasing is character building is it not?

Matron