Walking on the wild side
The documentary Devil’s Playground examines the phenomenon of the Rumspringa–the 5 year period beginning at age 16 when every Amish teenager is given the opportunity to consider joining the Amish church. The documentary follows the Rumspringa period of Amish teens–male and female–and interviews several as they make their decisions. Amish children only attend school (an Amish one-room school) until the eighth grade, and then leave school behind and begin working–usually in a family-owned business.
The Amish live without electricity, and cars. This means they have no television, and no video games. During the Rumspringa period, Amish youth are free to drive, drink, take drugs, have sex, etc. According to the documentary, male Amish teens typically leave the traditional Amish clothing behind while girls usually do not.
I’d never heard of Rumspringa before this documentary, and quite frankly, I was amazed by this film. I knew the Amish withdrew from society, and I just assumed that the teenagers either joined or wandered off, but I was not prepared to see a trailer full of Amish teens drugged up to their eyeballs right on Amish land. The Amish Rumspringa teens careen around and throw such wild parties that people come from all over America to attend. Apparently, it is well known (except by me) that “Amish kids have the best parties.” And the documentary makers questioned partygoers at one event, and, yes, there was indeed a fair representation of the various states in attendance.
The son of an Amish preacher, Faron, is one of the teens at the centre of this documentary. He lives in a trailer with his friends and tries to support his $100 a day Meth habit. Most of the teens interviewed are vastly enjoying their Rumspringa period, and accept the fact that they will go back to the Amish way of life in time. Several try to break away entirely, but one Amish girl who says she won’t join just moves to yet another Amish community. With little education, these teens are ill-prepared for the world, and it seems just a matter of time before they give up and accept baptism. According to the documentary, 90% of Amish teens return to the fold. I’m going to make special mention here of Velda–she came across a remarkably strong young girl who honestly has me cheering for her.
On the negative side, I wish the film had included a few more details. Given that Amish live such a strict life, how do they tolerate the Rumspringa period? How do they tolerate teens drinking, smoking, having sex, taking drugs etc while living under their roofs? In one scene, Faron drags a battery into the house to hook up a video game–how does the religious, rule-abiding part of the family cope with this? Where do the cars come from? How did the Amish kids in the trailer afford to live? Also, how has Rumspringa changed from, let’s say the 17th Century? Overall, the fascinating film directed by Lucy Walker was well-worth watching.
