Are there psychological repercussions for choir boys?

Have there been any studies, or have you any personal experiences?

Amongst many individuals in the classical vocal music community, boys’ choirs are regarded as having the purest, sweetest tones. Often this is just the natural expression of a young boy’s voice, but they do have talent in manipulating their sound. After they hit puberty, however, they can no longer take part in this activity. Some boys don’t even have singing voices after they’ve settled into their changed body.

From my own personal experience, singing well and hitting such perfect harmonies is extremely intense and produces a very addictive feeling of euphoria. Not to mention all of the ego boosts that come from compliments, and the sense of security and necessity that comes from being part of one’s choral community.

So, for choir boys, they go from an (chorally speaking) highly elevated and celebrated status, where they probably enjoy the activity greatly, to, in reality, useless to their former community (in terms of skill and talent. They might still retain friends, etc.) This, compounded with the sometimes already unsettling changes that happen during puberty, might really have some serious effect, no?