Plain Answers About the Amish Life by Mindy Starns Clark

world, to find a mate (parents hope), and to give teens enough freedom to make an informed, independent, and mature decision about whether they want to become Amish or leave the faith community and forge a new life on their own outside of the church.
    If they don’t choose to join the church, are they shunned?
    No. Those who have been raised in Amish homes but opt not to join the Amish faith themselves are able to maintain relationships with their Amish family and friends.
    What age do they go on Rumspringa and what is it like?
    Rumspringa usually begins around age 16 and lasts for several years. During this time, though teens still live at home and have all of the same obligations and responsibilities as before, the rules of the Ordnung are relaxed. Parents and church leaders “look the other way” as teens are allowed to experiment with their newfound freedom. Teens get their own private bedroom and sometimes even slip away at night to meet up with friends or dates.
    Is Rumspringa the same everywhere?
    No. In a conservative district, Rumspringa might include, at most, flirting at a group singing or riding home from church with someone of the opposite sex in a courting wagon. In a more liberal district, Rumspringa can mean obtaining a driver’s license, buying a car, using electronics, and having a cell phone, among other things
    Do Amish teens ever take their freedom too far?
    It happens. In worst-case scenarios, teens may get involved with sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, or spending their weekends at rowdy Rumspringa parties, notorious beer bashes that include both Amish and non-Amish teenagers and young adults.
    When does Rumspringa come to an end?
    Young adults in Amish communities must eventually choose between turning their backs on the world and accepting the faith of their parents, or making somewhat of a break from their homes and family and fully embracing the outside world. All teens know that if they decide to go with the church, they are making a lifelong commitment. As a part of the baptism process, they will take vows that commit them to the community, the church leadership, and the Ordnung until the day they die.
    Do many of them make that choice?
    Yes. Eighty-five percent of teens raised in Amish homes choose to join the church.
    What is “bundling”? 
    In some conservative districts, teens on Rumspringa may be allowed to enjoy an old Amish custom known as Uneheliche beischlaf , the practice of “bundling” or “bed courtship.” Bundling allows an unmarried male and female to spend the night together in the same bed, ostensibly without having sex. They may each be wrapped in their own blanket, or she may wear a special preventative gown. The couple is left alone in the female’s bedroom, and the parents go on to bed. The young man is allowed to spend most of the night but is expected to leave the home before morning milking time, which is usually around four or four thirty.
    Is bundling a common practice? 
    No. According to author Richard Stevick in his book Growing Up Amish: The Teenage Years , bundling was brought to America by European immigrants in the eighteenth century and was far more prevalent in the past than it is today. He estimates that fewer than 10 percent of Amish districts still allow bundling. Most Amish seem reticent to discuss the custom at all.
    Why would bundling be allowed? Wouldn’t it lead to premarital sex?
    Premarital sex is not a permitted aspect of the bundling experience, though most critics of the practice insist it often becomes inevitable. In the event that a premarital pregnancy results, most Amish teens will quickly join the church and then get married. Some critics charge that this is the whole point—to force the couple into church membership and marriage because of an unintended pregnancy.
    Proponents of bundling assert that it teaches self-discipline while allowing the couple to get to know each other in a private