In the Amish faith once a person reaches sixteen-years-old they are allowed to do something called "rumspringa" which loosely translates to "run free." The youth are allowed to experience the "English" world (non-Amish/non-Dutch world) and then decide if they'd like to get baptized and join the Amish Church, or leave the Amish community altogether.
"Devil's Playground" is about an Indiana Amish community and some of their youth experiencing rumspringa. I don't know if the youngsters shown are indicative of all Amish youngsters experiencing "rumspringa," but it sure was a wild scene. They were cutting loose and getting in as much partying, drinking, and vices as they could. The implication was that many of the Amish kids do that, get it out of their system, and then return to the slower more disciplined Amish lifestyle.
I thought the documentary was very informative and interesting, though it ran too long. After a while it focused on a few youth and was no longer about the Amish community anymore, but about some lost young adults who didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives. Perhaps the Amish tenets put them in that position by forcing them to decide between their friends and family and a whole wide unexplored world. It was quite the dilemma I'm sure.
"Devil's Playground" is about an Indiana Amish community and some of their youth experiencing rumspringa. I don't know if the youngsters shown are indicative of all Amish youngsters experiencing "rumspringa," but it sure was a wild scene. They were cutting loose and getting in as much partying, drinking, and vices as they could. The implication was that many of the Amish kids do that, get it out of their system, and then return to the slower more disciplined Amish lifestyle.
I thought the documentary was very informative and interesting, though it ran too long. After a while it focused on a few youth and was no longer about the Amish community anymore, but about some lost young adults who didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives. Perhaps the Amish tenets put them in that position by forcing them to decide between their friends and family and a whole wide unexplored world. It was quite the dilemma I'm sure.