Amish kids

Factual Questions
1

I heard that there was a court case that resulted in a ruling that Amish children cannot be made to go to school beyond eightth grade, which got me wondering: What is it about Amish faith that proscribes high school education? Are the parents afraid that their children won’t want to be Amish anymore if they learn too much stuff?

Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.

2

I think there are several reasons:

The Amish think that vocational training (farmer, carpenter) is sufficient for their children.

And also, as you said, they probably fear that children going to a public high school would be tempted to abandon the Amish traditions.

3

I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Lanacaster County, PA last summer and learned quite a few fascnating things about this curious sect.

here is an excerpt from a web page about the amish:
http://www.800padutch.com/amish.html

Although the Amish look like they stepped out of the rural nineteenth century, in fact they do change. Their lives move more slowly than ours, but they definitely are not stuck anywhere. They choose to examine change carefully before they accept it. If the new idea or gadget does not assist in keeping their lives simple and their families together, they probably will reject it. Each church district decides for itself what it will and will not accept; there is no single governing body for the entire Old Order population, but all follow a literal interpretation of the Bible and an unwritten set of rules called the Ordnung.
Old Order groups all drive horses and buggies rather than cars, do not have electricity in their homes, and send their children to private, one-room schoolhouses. Children attend only through the eighth grade. After that, they work on their family’s farm or business until they marry. The Amish feel that their children do not need more formal education than this. Although they pay school taxes, the Amish have fought to keep their children out of public schools. In 1972, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark unanimous decision which exempted the Old Order Amish and related groups from state compulsory attendance laws beyond the eighth grade. Many Mennonites and progressive Amish do attend high school and even college.

hope this helps.

Phouchg

Virginia is for lovers, but Pennsylvania has Intercourse.

4

The Supreme Court Decision in that case states that:

Hope that isn’t obnoxiously long.

You can read the full decision for yourself at http://oyez.nwu.edu/cases/cases.cgi?case_id=449&command=show You can even hear the oral arguments for the case from the same page. Being a Constitution junkie, let me just state my love for Oyez Oyez Oyez, they have a great site.

5

Phouchg:

Virginia may be for lovers, and Pennsylvania has Intercourse, but Saskatchewan has Climax.

and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel to toe

6

My in-laws are from Wisconsin, where there are some Amish farms around. According to my mom-in-law many people in the (non-Amish_ community ) dislike and distrust the Amish. Supposedly there are some dark secrets about the sect that justify this dislike and distrust. Knowing my in-laws I’m guessing that the source for mom’s information is either “something [she] heard (Mom is the single biggest spreader of ULs in central Wisconsin)” or just typical small-minded fear of the different. That’s why I didn’t ask for details – I didn’t want to validate any of her bizarro theories by being drawn into a discussion of them. However, I’ve been slightly curious ever since – does anybody have any ideas what kind of “dark secrets” my wacko mom-in-law was referencing?

Jess

Full of 'satiable curtiosity

7

There are no deep, dark secrets hiding in the Amish communities. They hold themselves aloof from “the world” and so they are targets for people who think everyone should conform to mainstream mores. Since they hold themselves separate, they always appear (and sometimes truly are) clannish. This means that if Yankee (their term for us) and Amish neighbors get into a hassle, the Amish will pretty much side up with the “Amish” side of the dispute. This can cause resentment when there are close-knit farming communities that are “divided” between Yankees and Amish.

As with any semi-detached culture, some of their customs come to be regarded as scandalous. Amish children are not asked to commit to the faith until they near their majority. While Amish discipline can be strict, teenagers are not held accountable forever for youthful indiscretions. This occasionally leads to some Amish teens acting pretty rowdy–it is not a common event, but it is always commented upon when it happens.

Other aspects of the Amish that tend to raise Yankee eyebrows (at the end of the 20th century): they have not put aside corporal punishment. There are occasions when they have been accused of child abuse. Most of it is probably overblown, although there have been a couple of incidents where they sought to prevent inquiry into a specific event, raising the hackles of people who feel that all their children are abused. There is very likely a real possibility of spousal abuse, as well (considering the patriarchal organization of their culture and their refusal to shun corporal punishment). On the other hand, the social agencies of counties with large numbers of Amish are not overwhelmed with fugitive beaten wives, despite the fact that a fair number of Amish are lured away by “the world” each year.

If I were to guess about any “dark secrets” among the Amish, I would guess that someone has a distorted view of bundling.
There is an ancient practice from Europe of young afianced couples sharing long, cold winter nights in the same bed, discussing their future lives. The practice generally involved the boy and the girl both wrapping themselves up in blankets in unheated or barely heated bedrooms. (No one ever talks about what went on during summer nights.) The assumption is that the couple will keep their “intercourse” to conversation. (The assumption is also that, since they are already engaged, it isn’t anyone else’s business if their “intercourse” becomes more physical.) In practice, it was never a common occurrence and it is very rare in these days. It is one of those issues that “inquiring minds” always “want to know” and which the Amish, understandably, prefer not to discuss. The reticence of the Amish to talk about this rare custom spurs prying outsiders to speculate even more on the custom, wondering what else goes on.

Tom~

8

The only thing I ever heard about the Amish that was negative was the high amount of inbreeding due to the closed society. Also they are supposed to have a high rate of suicide. One of my friends, whose mother had been Amish, had a slight tremor. He attributed it to inbreeding within his family.

9

I have heard of this Amish community paying for outside male sevices to stop thier potential inbreeding problem. The rules surrounding the situation lead me to believe that this is an urban legend and if I go to this community to find out the truth, my wife might kill me.