Curious about Amish and Rumspringa (Lancaster, Indiana: sales, homes, buy)

[fnord]

I have long been both curious and respectful of the Amish way of life and often wish to - and do - emulate their way of living, just without the religious aspect.

Today I watched a documentary titled "Devil's Playground", which was about Amish youth, who at age 16, are set loose from their communities to experience the "English" (American) lifestyle in order to choose a life of being Amish or not. I have to say I was truly stunned and in disbelief over a lot of what I saw and I'd like to learn more about it.

According to the film, Amish teens are just turned loose at age 16 to go live amongst the "English" without any sort of parental supervision or guidance, or assistance. I'm just not getting how this even occurs - where are they going to live? The movie didn't make it clear. The movie also stated that "most teenage Amish youth have cell phones"...I'm not sure if I believe that to be true. I read the Wikipedia article about Rumspringa, but it's not giving a whole lot of information.

Forgive my ignorance, but I've always had the idea that Amish were a very closed community - just how do you "release" a 16 year old to the English world and to where? I was also surprised to hear all of the Amish featured in the film speaking in regular American accents - I thought most Amish spoke a dialect of German or accented English.

In the film, it seemed as if every Amish teen jumped right into a life of drinking booze, smoking, and whatnot...I don't get it. As a non-Amish American, such a lifestyle wasn't really available to me at age 16. I just don't get it. Where were the parents and how do these teens get by? Food? Work? In the film, the kids were just living with "friends" in trailers. One Amish teen was arrested for drug dealing. I didn't see any connection to their parents or the communities they left behind.

This film leads me to believe there are people out there who grew up Amish, but aren't anymore, and they are part of common society. I would treasure any input from an ex-Amish or someone who is personally involved with the Amish. Just curious, that's all.

[Awesomo.2000]

I don't know what is worse to watch; suburbinite teens left loose in college, or Amish teens left loose in American society.

[pinetar10]

I have shopped at Amish grocery stores, and they all speak in accented English.

[christina0001]

Well the Amish don't appear to do that where I am (Missouri). And I have spoken to a few Amish out here, and they did not have accents. The Amish folks I have met out here are indeed fairly closed knit, although they will trade/do business with non-Amish people. But they don't have cell phones, they ride in their buggies on the highway, they dress conservatively in the traditional way, and they do a lot of farm work and skilled trade.

I also knew an elderly Amish fellow in Pennsylvania and he did not have an accent.

I would suspect the documentary may not be a reflection of all Amish people, but just a certain group in a certain area.

[CortlandGirl79]

Well, i live in Ohio near some Amish areas so i do have a little experience w/them. I have heard that some of them do have cell phones. Many Amish do business with us English and I've heard some have land-line phones in their barns. I've also heard that they use battery operated power tools.

Many of the homes around here are built by "English" contractors that use Amish workers and they all seem friendly enough to me. It's not rare to see Amish at Walmart, Kmart or other big box stores. They don't show up in buggies either, they hire someone to drive them in a big van, although you will see buggies in their communities which are probably about 20 to 30 minutes from here.

They also frequent garage sales in our area. My mom and i have one every year and we can't wait for them to show up because they spend a lot of money. They buy everything typical Americans buy, toys for their kids, sheets, blankets, etc.........minus electrical items and clothing. The also don't speak w/much of an accent, they sound normal to me.

Also, there are people out there that have left the Amish lifestyle behind. I used to work with a girl who's parents used to be Amish. I believe she grew up Mennonite, which is very close to Amish, only i think they drive and use electricity, but dress the same.

[CortlandGirl79]

I didn't get to read much of it, but this blog might help you Amish America: Rumspringa

[cheesehead1]

There is also a book called Rumspringa out there, by Tom Shachtman. It's set up talking to different teens in different Amish areas around the country. It follows them in their different experiences of those years. It says several times that the different communities have different rules based on their individual circumstances. So what one area does could be very different from another area. I find the Amish fascinating as well, and I miss the interactions since moving from central PA.

[BevoInPA]

The Amish are not restricted from having power in their barns provided they generate the power themselves. They are not allowed to be on the grid. They can have telephones in a booth at the end of a driveway or in the barn. They objective is not to be old fashioned but rather to preserve the family. The reason they have metal wheels on their tractors is to prevent Amish from using it as a vehicle rather than a farm implement. Bottom line is land is too expensive for Amish to bid at auction with the objective of creating a farm when developers can bid more per acre. Therefore the Amish, at least in Lancaster County, have started small factories (sheds, farm equipment, etc.) and work on building crews building suburban tract homes.

[fnord]

Originally Posted by christina0001

I would suspect the documentary may not be a reflection of all Amish people, but just a certain group in a certain area.

The documentary seemed to be filmed mostly in Indiana. The kids that were filmed were just dropping f-bombs left and right and had a typical American accent.

[fnord]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

I didn't get to read much of it, but this blog might help you Amish America: Rumspringa

Good link, thanks. I'm reading through it now.