rumspringa, a rite of passage and period of growth in adolescence for some Amish youths, during which time they face fewer restrictions on their behaviour and are not subject to the Ordnung (German: “order”), the specific system of unwritten community norms that governs their sect. Not all Amish communities have the practice of rumspringa, but, among those that do, it usually starts at age 16. Teenagers may be encouraged to explore otherwise forbidden or strictly regulated behaviours before making the choice to commit to the church. The length of rumspringa is indeterminate, a matter of personal choice. It continues until the adolescent decides to join the church and be baptized as an adult member, accepting the responsibilities that entails. Most young adults make their decisions before age 23, the majority deciding within two years.
The Amish are a Christian Anabaptist religious group centred in the United States, with a population of roughly 300,000 in the second decade of the 21st century. Amish settlements are found in most continental states, the bulk of settlements occurring in the Midwest and East Coast, particularly in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. There are approximately 500 groups in the country, plus another 20 settlements in Canada and a handful in South America. Amish sects generally share common beliefs, with some variance in day-to-day practice.
Amish people usually avoid modern technology and refrain from using electricity from public utility grids and from owning motor vehicles. Phones are allowed but are supposed to remain outside the home. Amish men and women dress in similarly styled plain clothing. Unmarried women wear bonnets to cover their hair, which is uncut; men wear hats and vests, and married men grow beards. In some sects in the 21st century, allowances for technology have crept in, like the acceptance of credit cards at farm stands or the use of advanced tools at construction sites. Generally, these adaptations are permitted for work use only.
Rumspringa is most commonly found in older and more established Amish communities. Elders in communities with the practice purport that rumspringa is a useful transitional period and a way for adolescents to meet and date, the idea being that youths will then make their commitment not only to the church but also to each other in marriage and join the church as a unit. (Marrying outside the Amish community is not allowed.) Among the Amish, it is a grievous sin to join the church and be baptized and then change your mind. This is punished by shunning, the practice of socially isolating and avoiding the individual on a community-wide basis, or possibly with excommunication, banishing the member from the community. However, members are usually accepted back later, if upon their return they confess their transgressions and recommit to the church.
Generally, Amish adolescents continue to live with their parents and other family members during rumspringa. Amish schooling usually concludes in the eighth grade and is followed by a time of apprenticeship that is intended to teach practical skills, so that by age 16 many Amish adolescents are employed, whether in manufacturing and industry in nearby towns (usually for boys) or at a family’s farmstand or as a caregiver for younger siblings (usually for girls). Increasingly, traditional farming as an occupation is being replaced by outside employment for Amish male adolescents. Both boys and girls often still attend church and tend to their household duties during rumspringa, but their social circles are broadened.
Many of the behaviours undertaken by adolescents during rumspringa are part of a more or less standard American teenage experience: using cell phones, wearing jeans, watching television, listening to music, playing sports or attending sporting events, going bowling, and participating in singing and supervised hangouts with church youth groups. Amish adolescents may uncover their hair and wear makeup. Often, the degree to which Amish adolescents explore is determined by their peer groups. For many teenagers, these relatively common activities mark the extent of their explorations of the world outside the Amish community. Other adolescents, however, engage in riskier behaviours, including underage drinking, smoking cigarettes, and experimenting with recreational drugs and premarital sex. Reports of parties in farm fields with hundreds of attendees partaking of drugs and liquor are sensationalized exceptions. This period in some ways can be calamitous for Amish adolescents, many of whom have had sheltered upbringings, often lacking in warnings about sexually transmitted diseases and binge drinking. Because Amish male adolescents are more likely to be employed outside their communities, they are therefore better exposed to the modern world before rumspringa than their female counterparts.
Most adolescents eventually choose to be baptized. Some report feeling overwhelmed by the modern world and its conveniences and complications, preferring the simplicity of the Amish community. Others choose to honour their beliefs and faith. Some miss the social structure and companionship of their friends and families or find their options for the future limited without high-school diplomas. Whatever the reasons, complex as they are, sociological studies in the 21st century indicate that at least 80 percent—in some regions nearly 90 percent—of Amish adolescents choose to join the church.
The experience of several teens during rumspringa is the subject of the 2002 documentary Devil’s Playground.