Informative Speech on Rumspringa
The Amish event “Rumspringa” is literally translated as “running around”. It is a time when Amish adolescents, usually at the age of about 16, experience life outside of the Amish community and are allowed luxuries they would not otherwise be able to enjoy. There are something’s about Rumspringa you may not know. It starts with enjoying English lifestyles; experimentations, marriage and reversion.
In a majority of instances, while being able to experience certain luxuries, children still have to abide by certain restrictions. They are able to date, but they have a curfew and sexual activity is still considered sinful. Children in engage in more innocent activities such as buying electronics, going to movie theaters, and playing sports. Sometimes kids gather together at “supper parties” after mass. The main idea behind this event is so that even with temptation, children will be dedicated enough to their faith to come back. The experts from Elizabethtown College state that “A fling with worldliness reminds Amish youth that they have a choice regarding church membership; however, most of the forces of Amish life funnel them toward church membership. Knowing they have a choice likely strengthens their willingness to obey church standards and, in the long run, the authority of the church itself.”
Even though in most cases, the luxuries enjoyed by Amish Children are innocent, the restrictions vary by community. In some communities, no restrictions are enforced, and kids roam the outside cities partying, drinking, doing drugs, and having unprotected sex. Tom Schatmans book “To Be Or Not To Be Amish: Rumspringa” illustrates Amish children going from solid colored, fully garbed work horses dedicated to the lord, switching to delinquents dressed in cut off shirts, drinking and partying with no regard of the religion or safety. A direct quote from his book states that “Near Shipshe, Berlin, and Intercourse, those Amish youngsters walking on the wild side of Rumspringa
In a majority of instances, while being able to experience certain luxuries, children still have to abide by certain restrictions. They are able to date, but they have a curfew and sexual activity is still considered sinful. Children in engage in more innocent activities such as buying electronics, going to movie theaters, and playing sports. Sometimes kids gather together at “supper parties” after mass. The main idea behind this event is so that even with temptation, children will be dedicated enough to their faith to come back. The experts from Elizabethtown College state that “A fling with worldliness reminds Amish youth that they have a choice regarding church membership; however, most of the forces of Amish life funnel them toward church membership. Knowing they have a choice likely strengthens their willingness to obey church standards and, in the long run, the authority of the church itself.”
Even though in most cases, the luxuries enjoyed by Amish Children are innocent, the restrictions vary by community. In some communities, no restrictions are enforced, and kids roam the outside cities partying, drinking, doing drugs, and having unprotected sex. Tom Schatmans book “To Be Or Not To Be Amish: Rumspringa” illustrates Amish children going from solid colored, fully garbed work horses dedicated to the lord, switching to delinquents dressed in cut off shirts, drinking and partying with no regard of the religion or safety. A direct quote from his book states that “Near Shipshe, Berlin, and Intercourse, those Amish youngsters walking on the wild side of Rumspringa