Breaking Amish

Breaking Amish

Last night, while I was flipping through channels I had to make a sudden stop on TLC. There was a show featuring Amish young adults wanting to move out of their community and into New York City called “Breaking Amish.” This came along with extreme conciseness. If they decided to break the Amish rules, they would be forever shunned by the community.

Think of the last time you had broken your house rules. Let’s say you were late for curfew. After being late you wouldn’t be allowed to eat with your family or any other people in your community. You wouldn’t be able to socialize. You wouldn’t even be able to attend your recently late grandfather’s funeral. They would even tell you that you were going to hell, all because you were late for your curfew. We might take these for granted now, but really imagine what it would be like not being able to communicate with anyone in your community. It would be miserable. In the Amish community (at least from what I learned on this TV show) they aren’t even okay with these people being filmed, let alone knowing they are moving to NYC. These young adults face one of the hardest decisions of their life choosing to stay locked up in the Amish community, or being who they want to be in NYC.

In the Amish communities shown, there was extreme supervision on everyone. They always had to worry about the Bishop and his family because they are the people who would declare you to be shunned. As I was watching there was a scare while filming, the bishop’s wife witnessed one of the young adults being interviewed and that’s a big no no for this community. The young man being interviewed seemed like he had peed his pants as the Bishop’s wife walked by. Now think of if you were the Bishops daughter and wanted to leave the community. One of the young ladies on the show is the daughter of the Bishop in her community. I have a feeling she will be getting into the most trouble as the show goes on, due to the security and pressure that has been put on her all of her life being the Bishop’s daughter.

Although they did not show what happens after they move to NYC in this pilot episode of “Breaking Amish” they did show a sneak peak to the next episode. It showed a significant change in wardrobe, personality, and life style. I think I would change drastically as well if I had been locked up for 20 years of my life. It would be tough for me to picture myself in an Amish community, especially knowing what’s out there. But it’s even harder for these young adults because they have no idea what’s to come when they go to the big city. These people only have about a fourth graders education, they don’t drive cars, and they use little to no electricity. It will be very interesting to me what will happen when they arrive in the city that never sleeps.

I would highly recommend watching this show. If gives you a whole other perspective on life. It made me feel blessed that I wasn’t born into, or adopted into a different family. I also think it gives a completely different meaning to the saying “strict parents make sneaky kid.” These kids have been under so much supervision their whole lives, and now they finally get the opportunity to experience a whole new life style. Let’s hope they don’t take it for granted and get themselves into trouble, but hey its reality TV, anything can happen.

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