Devil's Playground

Released 2002
Directed by Lucy Walker
Reviewed March 24, 2003

"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.

This movie is fascinating because it gives us a glimpse into a closed society that few of us know much about, and it continually surprised me. One surprise is that 90% of the kids eventually join the church. After watching the kids eagerly gobble up our culture you'd never expect so many would give it all up to return to the horse and buggy on the farm, but apparently they do. The kids are heavily pressured to do so, and that's part of why so many return. I'm sure they must also want to return to the comfort of the faith they've known for their entire childhoods, but they must also burn out after a few intense years of drinking and partying. Another big reason may be because the kids have little education and, frankly, may not have much choice but to return to the farm. We do see one girl who's accepted into college despite only having an 8th grade education, but she's obviously the exception.

It's shocking to see how much freedom the parents give the kids. From what we see, the kids are given complete freedom to live wherever they want and do whatever they want. On one hand, it's admirable how the Amish give their children freedom to experience the rest of the world before giving them the choice to either leave the Amish community permanently or to join the church. On the other hand, it's scary just how much freedom these kids are given. In fact, I think the Amish need to rethink rumspringa a bit, because times have changed. Since the Amish stop sending their kids to school when they reach 13, the kids are free to work full-time. They don't force them to work on the farm, so a lot of the kids get factory jobs. When they reach 16, they have tons of money to feed their voracious appetite for all things English, and this wad of money allows them to delve deeply into the drug world as we see with Faron. I love how the Amish give their children a choice of whether they want to join the church rather than forcing them to, but I think they need to change with the times. One of the purposes for rumspringa is to allow the Amish to sow their oats and concentrate all of their vices into one short intense period, but addiction to hardcore drugs like crystal meth has been added to the equation. The Amish leaders are aware of this, and I hope they take some steps to address it.

I really enjoyed this movie. The purpose of a documentary is usually to inform, but in recent years they've become as much about entertainment as information. This film deftly combines the two into a fast-moving document that follows several specific teenagers through their rumspringa and also gives us great details about the Amish society. The biggest thing I take away from this film is the main purpose of their society. I always thought they shunned technology out of fear and some misguided interpretation of scripture, but it's really an attempt to create a mini-society that emphasizes strength of family. While I disagree with many aspects of their society, I can certainly respect them for that.

Reviewed by Bill Alward
March 24, 2003
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