Devil's Playground (film)

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Devil's Playground
Directed by	Lucy Walker
Produced by	Steven Cantor
Starring	Velda Bontrager Joann Hochstetler Emma Miller Faron Yoder Gerald Yutzy
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	February 4, 2003 (limited)
Running time	77 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Devil's Playground is a 2002 documentary film by Stick Figure Productions, directed by Lucy Walker about the alleged Amish rite of passage called Rumspringa. The film follows Amish teenagers in LaGrange County, Indiana who enter the "English World" before making the adult commitment to become baptised as adults in the Amish community. The non-Amish world is referred to in the film as "the Devil's Playground" (though there is no evidence that the term is in circulation among the Amish).

[edit] Synopsis

According to the film, at the age of 16, Amish youth are allowed to depart from many of the Amish rules, though the scholarship on the subject does not support this view of a normative rumspringa. The young people sample life outside of the Amish community. Many drive cars, get jobs, have romantic and sexual relationships, and most experiment with tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.

One Amish youth whom the film follows, Faron – a preacher's son – even turns to drug dealing to satisfy his habit. Faron is eventually apprehended by the authorities and aids them in arresting another dealer. The movie continues as each subject faces a variety of challenges and pressures from both the "English World" and the "Amish World" of their families. Some return to their families, others do not. Some are baptized but later leave the Amish church, resulting in their families' shunning them.

According to the documentary, after the period of Rumspringa, 90% of the youth decide to rejoin the church.