Growing up Amish : the Rumspringa years / Richard A. Stevick.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Stevick, Richard A., 1939-

Series:

• Young Center books in Anabaptist & Pietist studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Rumspringa.
• Amish teenagers--United States--Social life and customs.
• Amish teenagers--United States--Social conditions.
• Amish teenagers--Religious life--United States.
• Amish--United States--Social life and customs.
• Amish.
• Youth.
• Manners and customs.
• Amish teenagers.
• Religious life.
• Social conditions.
• United States.
• Youth--United States--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

xvii, 370 pages ; 23 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.

Summary:

On the surface, it appears that little has changed for Amish youth in the past decade: children learn to work hard early in life, they complete school by age fourteen or fifteen, and a year or two later they begin Rumspringa-that brief period during which they are free to date and explore the outside world before choosing whether to embrace a lifetime of Amish faith and culture. But the Internet and social media may be having a profound influence on significant numbers of the Youngie, according to Richard A. Stevick, who says that Amish teenagers are now exposed to a world that did not exist for them only a few years ago. Once hidden in physical mailboxes, announcements of weekend parties are now posted on Facebook. Today, thousands of Youngie in large Amish settlements are dedicated smartphone and Internet users, forcing them to navigate carefully between technology and religion. Updated photographs throughout this edition of Growing Up Amish include a screenshot from an Amish teenager's Facebook page. Stevick draws on decades of experience working with and studying Amish adolescents across the United States to produce this well-rounded, definitive, and realistic view of contemporary Amish youth. Besides discussing the impact of smartphones and social media usage, he carefully examines work and leisure, rites of passage, the rise of supervised youth groups, courtship rituals, weddings, and the remarkable Amish retention rate. Finally, Stevick contemplates the potential of electronic media to significantly alter traditional Amish practices, culture, and staying power. Book jacket.

Contents:

• Amish life: plain but not so simple
• Religion: transmitting the faith
• Adolescence: finding an Amish identity
• Schooling: read'n, writ'n, and skipping evolution
• Parenting: holding on and letting go
• Teen culture: working hard and having fun
• Singings: the gateway to Rumspringa
• Rumspringa: running about and stepping out
• Courtship: finding a mate
• Weddings: high times in plain places
• The future: keeping faith in a world of change.

Notes:

• Earlier edition has subtitle: the teenage years.
• Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

• 9781421413716
• 142141371X

OCLC:

858940208