Instead of allowing children to advance to the academic equivalent of college, the Amish tend to keep the education limited so it does not surpass what they need to know to live within the community. To the Amish (most notably the most traditional sects) higher education might spurn a desire for material goods and possessions, be they material or immaterial, that the community is unable to offer. Again, with both cases there an avoidance of anything that could instigate pride—one of the banes of the religion. As it stands, the Amish have existed in the United States in roughly the same ways as they did when they first came across the ocean and one of the central long-standing tenants of this traditional lifestyle is community cohesion. The strong bonds of the Amish community are maintained by living simple lives that do not encourage a want for material possessions or any feelings of competition with one’s neighbors.

As a result of this powerful desire, all residents in Amish communities work together to maintain their community—even the youngest members. In addition to this general statement about community, it should also be noted that there is more freedom of choice in this lifestyle than one might typically imagine. Young people are not forever committed to living within the Amish community and when they are old enough they are offered a choice of whether or not they wish to remain in their Amish community or if they would prefer to join the outside world. The concepts of freedom of choice as well as that of community are important factors to keep in mind throughout the following essay.

Now that some of the basic ideas behind the Amish way of life have been explained, considering the socialization of Amish children can be looked at in a more culturally informed context. In general, the Amish have very large families with an average of 7 children per married couple. “Stemming from their adherence to their religious ideology, children are viewed as ‘blessings from God’ and they therefore have strong traditional norms that favor large families and church doctrine that opposes contraception” (Cooksey 3). While children are very young they are breastfed and taken care of their mothers and older female siblings There is a great deal of communal caretaking when it comes to babies and mothers will often spend time with the children of other community members as well. From a very young age Amish children are instilled with the values of simplicity and are taught to abhor pride or vanity. In addition to this, they are taught the value of hard work while very young and for children of both sexes, chores are administered as soon as the young person is physically able to handle them. Also apparent from an early age are the clear gendered divisions of labor that will persist throughout the child’s lifetime. In general, these involve the boys working with their fathers as soon as they’re able and the girls at the side of their mother assisting her with raising other children and taking care of the home.

While children are expected to start working young, their parents encourage education to what equates to the eighth-grade level in non-Amish schools. “They attend one- and two-room private schools until they are 14 or 15, and after that time, take an apprenticeship—either learning to farm or doing the books in woodworking shops” (Miller 33). It should be noted that while these schools are coeducational, upon completion the gendered division of labor will take over and the boys will be the ones taking apprenticeships while the girls will assist their mothers. Since the men of Amish communities generally work in agriculture and crafts (woodcrafts and other more laborious craft pursuits) the boys will trail their fathers and learn their trade. The girls will help their mothers with homemaking and if the family has a business such as a shop, crafting network (for profit), or a restaurant as many Amish do in recent times, the girl will assist her mother and sisters there. This period of “apprenticeship” will last for some time based on one of the most important rites of passage in an adolescent Amish community member’s life, rumspringa.  During this period called rumspringa, an adolescent is allowed to experiment with the modern lifestyle of the outside world. By the end of this period of rumspringa (which is generally around a year for most young people) they can make the decision of whether or not they wish to be baptized into the Amish community or if they would rather join the “outside world.”

Parents are not to try to have any direct effect over the young person’s decision but in some of the most strict communities, if the young person decides to leave the Amish community they are shunned. Shunning is a practice in which the person who has either left the community or violated it in some way is outcast by his or her family and treated as a virtual non-entity. The practice of shunning varies among Amish sects in terms of the degree of severity but because of its existence, the young person’s decision to leave after the period of rumspringa could result in a lifetime of non-contact with the only family and friends he or she has ever known. In general, all of the years of socialization lead up to this point of Rumspringa (popularized in the documentary film “Devil’s Playgound). Since Amish children are not baptized at birth, this is their chance to claim their own identity and this is a fitting practice for a religion that does not proselytize (Blake 3).

Because of the process of community identification given to young people, the community can remain cohesive since only those who wish to be present are. By punishing those who violate important doctrine or voluntarily leave, the Amish maintain a very tight-knit social structure. Their economy is based on a more or less communal sense of work and duty and since the avoidance of pride or the gathering of many material possessions by one person is thought to be vain, they are more or less an egalitarian society. This system is also preserved because they do not involve themselves with the affairs of the state or federal government if at all possible. They do not believe in insurance and although some seek medical treatment at modern facilities, they generally prefer to keep everything within the community.

As a result of their long-standing traditions, the federal government does allow them some lenience with the raising of their children and despite a few skirmishes about child labor practices and the age at which children must attend school, they are mostly left alone, even though they do pay property taxes. They do not seem to see a need to defend their lifestyle and do not general get involved with the court systems for any reason. Their purpose is to keep themselves together by means of strengthening their community and thus they are wholly unconcerned with the more consumer-based, privatized, and generally self-centered world of modern America. They raise their children to believe in these core ideals and offer them the chance for a different life as well instead of forcing them, by proxy of inheritance, to live a life devoted to the community. Their community is thus sustained by these principles of simplicity, avoidance of pride, and egalitarian values and thus in order to best preserve them they must take great care in raising children with the same set of values.

For another excellent article on Amish, check out another article on the Amish from the Main Archives *

Works Cited

Blake. “Keeping the Faith?.” Current Events 103.23 (2004): 3.

Cooksey, Elizabeth C. “Blessings From God: Fertility Patterns Among the Amish.” Conference Paper, American Sociological Association (2004).

Miller, F.”An Amish exception.” Economist 370.8361 (2004): 33

Instead of allowing themselves to fall prey to the temptation of pride and severance of community common in cities, the Amish instead strive to keep the community self-sufficient and based on societal relationships and bonds.  “Among dissident groups such as the Amish, the isolation has been socio-culturally engendered; it has been the result of conscious and knowing acts of resistance over a period of as much as four centuries” (Kuhn 1998, 174). The Amish have survived for so long because of their large strong families, commitment to community survival, and ability to maintain strict social order and their numbers are stronger than ever today.

While reproduction is the key to the survival of the Amish community, recruitment practices are non-existent. In fact, with only a few rare exceptions, the Amish do not accept members from the outside into their communities at all. Accordingly, they do not engage in any form of recruitment and instead have very large families to keep their population high. Instead of being baptized or accepted into the Amish church or community, children who are members of the Amish community are born into an Amish family and around the age of fourteen to sixteen are given the option of whether or not they wish to stay with their families within the community or to join mainstream society. This time in an adolescent’s life is called “rumspringa” and refers to a year (sometimes more) that is granted for the young Amish person to experiment with the thought of joining mainstream society. If the teenager decides to stay within the Amish community, he or she is able to rejoin the family immediately after rumspringa to become a full-fledged member of the church and social structure. If, however, the young person decides to leave the Amish church they are effectively shunned from the community.

The severity of the shunning can range from severe (completely severance from all communication with the family, church, and community) to mild (the child still keeps in contact with the family but does not reside within the community.) In either case, this is one of the most important decisions a young Amish person could make and it serves as the community’s mode of retaining desirable members while allowing those who wish to be elsewhere to continue their lives. Because the Amish typically have very large families with an average of seven children as well as close relationships with friends, neighbors, and others of the group, the Amish community stays cohesive and their numbers have not dwindled in recent decades (Kuhn 1998, 171).

Socialization and induction into the Amish community begins at the time of birth. Since the Amish community is very tight-laced, there is a great deal of communal caretaking when it comes to children and mothers will often spend time with the children of other community members as well. From a very young age Amish children are instilled with the values of simplicity and are taught to abhor pride or vanity—the core values of Amish philosophy. In addition to this, they are taught the value of hard work while very young and for children of both sexes, chores are administered as soon as the young person is physically able to handle them. In relation to this, it also apparent from an early age are the clear gendered divisions of labor that will persist throughout the child’s lifetime. In general, these involve the boys working with their fathers as soon as they’re able and the girls at the side of their mother assisting her with raising other children and taking care of the home.

While children are expected to start working young, their parents encourage education to what equates to the eighth-grade level in non-Amish schools before they quit and help family members with farm-related or other tasks. After the period of rumspringa, young people who have decided to stay within the community are given added responsibilities and become full members of the church. For male members, this can involve a leading position within the group of elder members and for females, this might entail a more specialized position of work within the community. Through community and group work and worship, the Amish maintain strong bonds with one another and are highly social with families within their community on all levels.

One element that marks the Amish as separate from the rest of modern mainstream society is their ability and drive to produce just enough in terms of goods and services. Since humility and an avoidance of anything prideful are both central tenants of their religious and social philosophy, they tend to work together to achieve success in farming. There are different Amish communities in terms of their production and dispersal of goods and services. For instance, one more traditional community might strive only to provide what is absolutely essential for community needs while another less traditional sect might engage in sales of their crops or services to outside (non-Amish) parties. In recent years, many Amish groups have branched out and supplemented agricultural activities with more commercial endeavors such as restaurants, woodworking, and craft shops. As one researcher notes, “The Amish have a low business failure rate, 4 percent per decade compared to the 70 percent failure rate of new U.S. businesses within their first three years of operation” (Turco 2000, 138). One of the reasons they are so successful is that so many of their economic efforts hinge upon community efforts. Furthermore, one cannot help but mention the rise in tourism and interest in their way of life which has driven profits skyward in the last decade. In general, the Amish have always provided for their communities and have balanced the prospect of wealth and personal profit with community. They are a relatively egalitarian society and goods and services that are not sold are traded or given freely among members of the community, which discourages individual pride.

Order is preserved through a regimented system within each community. While the Amish strive to avoid power relationships in terms of internal politics, there are usually three to four men who act a the leaders (bishops) of the community. Every district is made up of these few leaders as well as an average of about 25 to 30 families. “The districts are bonded together by the senior bishops who meet informally to share concerns, and by recognizing the rules they share in common. The rules of the church district are enacted by membership and erring members are disciplined or excluded by the group process” (Eriksen, Hostetler 1999, 22). Since the church forms the basis of society, the rules and decision-making power rests there as well. Although the Amish strive for an egalitarian society, order is preserved by men only who are responsible for some of the most important community decisions. One of the worst punishments for the Amish is expulsion and this is reserved only for the most serious of crimes against the community.

The Amish maintain their sense of purpose by forming a very strong bond with the history of their ancestors. They realize that they are living according to tradition and as a result, they have a great deal of reverence for it. Furthermore, since they do not force their young Amish people to remain within the church if they do not feel they wish to join, their sense of purpose can be maintained since all members of the community have the same purpose and feelings about their lives. The church also provides reminders for their sense of purpose and day-long services held on Sundays reinforce the most important themes of unity, humility, and living simply. By working together, supporting the economy and society through mutual efforts, and by coming together under a common faith, the Amish are able to renew their sense of purpose daily and live according to the will of the group rather than the individual. While they do not hold revivals or other festivities to honor or renew their sense of purpose, their daily efforts reinforce the all-important notions of community that have allowed the Amish to thrive.

In sum, these five factors of group life discussed in this essay on the Amish all have the common element of community contained within them at some point. Since it is the one major focus of the religious and social nature of the Amish, it is only natural that it is part of the community, economy, socialization process, and general philosophy. In essence, through the strong bonds of community, the Amish have achieved longstanding success despite the modern world that surrounds them. By taking the focus off the individual, these larger aspects of group life are more apparent than in other religious groups because the foundation itself is the group’s will to work together.

For another excellent article on Amish, check out another article on Amish children from the Main Archives

Works Cited

Eriksen, J.A. & Hostetler, J. (1998). Fertility Patterns and Trends Among the Old Order Amish. Huntington GE Population Studies, 7(2).

Kuhn, M. H. (1998). Meet the Amish: A Pictoral Study of the Amish People. Social Forces, 27(2), 174.

Turco, D. M. (2000). Amish Communities. Parks & Recreation, 35(9), 138.