Letters to the Editor
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@leftychris
"And this is a bad thing? Sounds to me like these boys were the lucky ones, given a chance at a life outside a suffocating and mentally-stilted authoritarian cult."
I would agree that they are the fortunate ones. But they're still teenaged boys completely cut off from their families, with barely any education. Many end up in flop houses with dozens of boys living together, the older ones doing their best to support the younger ones and keep bills paid and everyone fed. But having never learned any kind of responsible autonomy or how to respect their own limits, it's common for them to end up in trouble with alcohol, meth, gambling, etc.
But especially in nearby St. George, the problem has become so immense that support groups and halfway houses with counselors and adult guidance available are starting to spring up--with increasing recognition of what's happening, the prospects for them are looking increasingly hopeful.
As for not caring about the welfare of boys here at a women's issues forum...you wink, and I do appreciate the humorous spirit in which you ask, but it is a serious question.
I'd say that the wellbeing of either sex is always intimately tied to that of the other. With this situation as a perfect example, it's the abuse and commodification of girls that has led directly to discarding and devaluation of these boys. I frequently find Broadsheet's posts shallow and knee-jerk, but I don't accept the proposition that publicizing concern for women's welfare is a repudiation of concern for men's. So I do wish that there was more discussion of the ways that society is hurtful to men as well as women, because it's not fair to anyone for one sex to be continually cast or scapegoated as either the oppressors or victims of the other.
But I think I'm preaching to the choir with you.