Amish Gang Members

In The Riddle of Amish Culture, Donald Kraybill explains Amish ‘gangs’ in Lancaster  county:
 

By the age of ten, an Amish child will be able to name some of the groups—Bluebirds, Canaries, Pine Cones, Drifters, Shotguns, Rockys, and Quakers—and even describe some of their activities.

Youth are free to join the gang of their choice…Parents worry about which groups their teens will join because they know that one group may invite temptation, whereas another will reinforce parental teaching.

 

Gangs are an important outlet for Amish youth going through the formative period known as Rumspringa. Most are fairly tame. Some do get wild.

Unfortunately for the Amish, the media jumps all over any story of Amish low-brow behavior-- hence the popularity of some recent televisions shows and documentaries on Rumspringa-age adolescents.

 

Gang activities let youth socialize, test the waters of the world, and engage in some (usually harmless) rebellious behavior.

 

The author of Amish America remembers passing a regular-looking Amish buggy one Saturday evening.

Everything seemed normal about this particular buggy, except for the heavy thump of a bass line coming from the on-board stereo system.

 

Did these youth go too far?  It’s probably fair to say that it’s all relative. Some churches might look the other way, others might not.

 

But for the sake of rebellion, there are probably worse things a teenage gang member could get into. 

Comments

[Natalya (talj)]

I always find the word 'gang' immediately gives a bad impression! I am sure there are many gangs that are completely harmless! To me thumping bass lines from a vehicle is pretty normal behaviour for the young people here in the UK!

I think its fascinating that the young Amish are allowed the opportunity to experience different aspects of the world and like all of us I suppose how they use that freedom is the biggest test of all

[jan]

There is NO gangs in the Amish... they are not referred to as that. Why you would sensationalize it by using the term GANG is beyond me... get real.

[joe english]

lol.. Amish Gangs?? more like Amish groups. I have worked with a few of the members and discussing church and schooling isnt the usual activities of the Bloods and Crypts.

[Andrea Graham]

Sounds more like what the rest of the Church generally calls youth groups than gangs

[Lydia]

The way the word was used was appropriate. Yes, the word gang is usually connected to violence and bad behaviour. However in the case of the Amish it's more so that the "gangs" are groups of youth experimenting with their WILD SIDE!

[SEN DALAMAN]

So how do Amish gangs kill each other? Are they allowed to use guns? Are guns electric?

[kalle]

lol

[Richard Stevick]

I just stumbled upon this discussion on Lancaster County Amish gangs. Indeed, they do not resemble the Crips and Bloods, and 'youth groups' would be a more accurate descriptor. But Lancaster youth and adults both refer to them as gangs without any connotations of deviancy. So the conservative open-buggy groups of Lancaster County, the morally conservative Hummingbirds or Eagles, and the rowdier groups on the "high" end of the spectrum all use the word gang to describe their group. Machs goot. RAS

[Keith Closson]

As an Allen County ,Indiana .Amishs "neighbor" .Who has a great number of friends and what I consider secound Family Amish . I must say , gang is not correct . Some of these teenagers are rebelious to a point . But if the "English" , children were anywhere near as disciplined ,I believe this country would be leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the world ..

[Val Byler]

Yes, be careful how you use the term "gang." It really is closer to the meaning of "group." Think of it this way: if I used the term "gay" to describe a joyous feeling, how would you interpret that? So, keep in mind the culture difference. If you are going to say the amish belong to gangs, you need to explain what you mean by that. I used to be amish and I did belong to a gang - a thrashing "gang" that helped all the other members in the "gang" with their thrashing. And, thrashing in this context is harvesting the grains from the fields. People need to choose their words better when talking cross-cultures.

[Erik Wesner]

Hi Val, I appreciate the comments and the points, and people have been bringing this up for many months now, so it might be worth addressing again. I would just note three things: 1) the comments of Richard Stevick (2 comment entries above yours) noting that the term is used widely among Amish themselves, 2) the fact that the post does in fact explain what the term 'gang' means in an Amish context, as well as using single quotation marks around the first appearance of the word 'gang' to indicate irony, and that 3) there was certainly a slight tongue-in-cheek intention in the titling. Though I perhaps misfire in my attempts at humor at times, I like to use opportunities for humor in the blog as it a) makes it more fun to write, leading me to create more posts, and b) hopefully makes it more fun for readers to read, leading them to read more posts.

I created the post knowing full well how 'gang' would be interpreted on first read--though I provided the context, with the help of prof. Kraybill, in the post itself to explain the meaning. So, in some ways you might even call it educational in the sense that it (hopefully) attracts the reader to read, but then points out differences in usage of language between cultures, raising awareness of differences in the usage of English even within our own great nation. You do make a good point about language, and language is something I find fascinating. A sincere thanks again for reading the blog and bringing up this point so it could be addressed.

[clark]

The amish youth of Lancaster County refer to them as "buddy groups" and will refer to friends as their "buddy", not gangs. I work closely with amish families. One older married couple might remark about another as having been in the same buddy group, much like we might say "we used to hang out in high school" regardless of what activities each group might participate in.