The Devil's Playground
(Documentary)
Directed by Lucy Walker
2002
The fundamentalist Amish culture in the United States has an important rite of passage - 'Rumspringa' where 16 year olds are given the chance to run free in the 'Devil's Playground', the subject of this documentary.
This period is a crucial feature of the Amish religion - they believe one must be an adult and freely choose to take the vows of the church for it to be valid. (Which, curiously, evidences the 'fitness for survival' of this particular religous practice.)
According to the non-scientific documentary 90% of the Amish children (often ten or more to the couple) choose the faith. Go figure!
