Devil's Playground

Released 2002
Directed by Lucy Walker

"The Amish gone wild." How wild can Amish kids go? Do they go to bed without churning the butter? Sleep in until 5:30 am? Sneak a peek at a Glamour magazine? Wrong! The Amish have a tradition called rumspringa, which frees kids from Amish rules when they reach 16. The kids are given complete freedom to live amongst the "English" and to do everything the rest of us do. The surprising part is how wild these kids go. They waste no time getting started, and they live to party. I didn't get a feeling for the percentage of kids who lose their minds, but I was completely shocked at how far the kids shown in the movie went. They immediately started smoking, drinking, and most of them started doing drugs.

Summary by Bill Alward, March 24, 2003

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