Not lost, just displaced
 
Opinion
The Spectrum
 
Being cast out from the only life you've every known, away from family and friends and with little education and street-wise smarts to get through day-to-day living has got to be a terrifying experience for a young person.

This has happened to an estimated 1,000 teens in less than a decade from the polygamous twin cities of Hildale and Colorado City. It is a social issue that affects the entire state. Utah should respond with no less than all the adequate resources needed to assist these youth.

Help for these displaced members of society has been less than modest. Housing, food, clothing and referrals for jobs and educational opportunities have been primarily done out of the kindness and generosity of individuals and non-profit organizations. We applaud the goodness of the Hope Organization, New Frontiers for Families and countless anonymous donors that have gone beyond all expectations to offer these less fortunate kids a second chance at life.

Their exiled existence is unfathomable. The thought of a 15-year-old boy being commanded to leave the confines of his community to repent because he chose to wear short sleeves or listen to pop music is unfathomable. Just as it is unconscionable reasoning for a 16-year-old girl who did not wear her hair in braids or ventured into trying mascara on her eyelashes being forcibly ousted from the only place she had ever known to be home.

The Utah Legislature has passed emancipation laws for children 16 years or older so they may establish their own credit and acquire their own shelter. It was a start that needs momentum with continual funding for these 501c3 agencies that are filling in the gaps so additional services for them may be offered in counseling, life skills training, transportation and basic medical and dental care.

There have been children as young as 13 kicked out of these cities. They need as much consideration as the older youth and are as yet, not old enough to be completely out on their own. They need guidance to divert them from the anti-social behavior of criminals some have fallen prey to; they need love.

Despite the obstacles, what is remarkable about these kids and young adults is their resiliency and resourcefulness. They are not even close to the label "Lost Boys," basically because not all of them are boys, but more so because they are not lost if a path to independence and recovery from abandonment is made evident.

Utah can do that; it has a responsibility to provide those essentials when the lack of attention and funding went into the appropriate resources to investigate alleged wrongdoing for years, which potentially could've diverted the ostracisms from happening in the first place.

These kids are nothing less than miraculous survivors. They deserve to be treated as such and given the tools to thrive as productive contributors to society.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published August 22, 2007
 
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