A Glimpse Inside Amish Life

(CBS)  The Amish choose buggies over cars, lanterns over light bulbs and send their children to private, one-room schoolhouses. They value their privacy, CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports.

Few people have ever been inside that world, but Lucy Walker has.

"They'll wear big black bonnets. Inside those outfits, they're little girls like anyone else," says Walker, who's been inside the Nickel Mines schoolhouse, which became a crime scene on Monday.

"It's a tragedy that it struck them in particular because they go to such lengths to avoid violence," she says.

Walker gained access into the secretive community while filming her documentary about the Amish. Normally, peaceful, quiet and religious people, her film, "The Devil's Playground" focuses on a tumultuous Amish ritual called "rumspringa."

When the Amish turn 16, they are allowed to explore the customs of the outside world.

"Some of them will pack in a lot of hijinks because once they settle down, the gates close," Lucy says.

And they'll have to decide what side of the gate they want to be on. The teens eventually choose whether to join the Amish church or leave it altogether. Walker says 90 percent join.

"You feel it within you. The thought that you're different from other people is so deep-seated," Lucy says.

So they work on their family's farms until they marry. Men grow beards. Women never cut their hair.

The Amish believe their plain, distinctive clothes encourage humility and separation from the world, with all of its violence and pain. Monday, they learned that separating from the world isn't always that simple.

[charles8868]

Any one who attacks innocent little girls espacily from a peacefull christian scociaty is a sick, twisted, scociopathic, maniac. God or whatever is out there mave mercy on the Omish community.

[outran]

If you get the whole Devils Playground movie on dvd it is very beautiful and very informative when you see it about the Amish life, it is like an advertisement for their peaceful lifestyle and explains lots of things in good taste and with a lot of heart, it makes you ask yourself how we can all live a better life. It's sad that this news story included only those small parts because the whole movie is a lot about the importance of beliefs and peace and family, which is what I get reminded of on days like yesterday. My thoughts are with everyone in that community today. Maybe the Amish can give us some good ideas about how to stop this kind of thing from happening. From Melissa Randall.

[boi_toy]

That last paragraph "The Amish believe their plain, distinctive clothes encourage humility and separation from the world, with all of its violence and pain. Monday, they learned that separating from the world isn't always that simple. " wass a very tasteless and awful comment to make with such a tradegy. I think an apology is needed and expected. Like their choices they are making should keep them away from violence and that they needed to learn this lesson. That is just terrible. Nobody needs to learn a lesson that way. Come on CBS News. That was just wrong!

[ranginon]

To even mention the time when the kids can explore is beyond tasteless. You should retract and apologise.
PLEASE FIND A LOCAL BANK WHO WILL SPONCER A SITE FOR DONATIONS TO HELP WITH THE EXTREME MEDICAL EXPENSES THESE FAMILIES FACE. I know the Amish usually pay their own way but this is beyond the normal and we all should help them. I love living around the Amish, they insure the quality of my life with their large farms and family values life style. It is unimaginable that this has happened. I need a way to help, PLEASE provide. May I add that you don't hear the Amish/Mennonite children whining and never see them misbehaving AT ALL in the stores, they obey their parents. They should provide parenting class for the Engilsh!!! God be with them.

[mennowoman]

As a practicing Mennonite, I am not offended by this article. Rumspringa is a fact of life and the Amish are not ashamed of it. It doesn't take away from the fact that the Amish are real people with real troubles and trials, just like everyone else. Too often, people romanticize the Amish and their way of life. It's good for things like rumbspinga to be out in the open, as well as some of the other practices. It's true they don't have health insurance, but the Amish community will pull together to pay off the bills. They don't need and won't accept outside assistance. Tragedies like this one band the Amish community together. Amish from around the nation will be contributing to the needs of the families and those bills will be paid off before the end of the month, much quicker than the hospital would be paid by any insurance company. Don't pity the Amish, and don't worship them, either. They are just ordinary folks touched by a common tragedy.

[wngnpryr]

Being from Pensylvania, having a father who lives among the Amish, you learn a few things about their culture. #1, they do NOT frequent our medical facilities or follow our medical marvels for ills. #2, they have NO INSURANCE. WHY did Katie Couric and all the news shows covering THIS story NOT go into this aspect of their lives? They don't call 911 very often. They do NOT run to CHOP and Hershey Medical. They do NOT incur this kind of medical debt, they do NOT have insurance or participate in CHIP for kids, etc. THEY HAVE 8 LITTLE GIRLS WHO JUST INCURRED TRAUMA CENTER DEBT, SURGERY'S AND BILLS FOR AIRLIFTING...WHY ISN'T THEIR A LOCAL BANK THAT HAS COME FORWARD WITH THEIR NAME, ADDRESS FOR A MEMORIAL FUND FOR HEALTHCARE BILLS FOR THESE LITTLE GIRLS? The Amish chose NOT to live the way we do and they consider our world 'the devil's playground', we have been given a golden opportunity by God above to show them that our ANGELIC qualities always overshadow our evil. WHY ISN'T THEIR A LOCAL BANK WITH A FUND, FLASHED ACROSS THE SCREEN, WHY NO STORY ANYWHERE ON LOCAL OR NATIONAL NEWS COVERING HOW THE AMISH ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS AND WHY CAN'T THEY ACCEPT CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS ALONG WTIH OUR PRAYERS TO HELP PAY THESE MEDICAL BILLS??????? WHERE'S THE STORY ON THIS?

Thanks for considering it....Maureen, Pennsylvania

[turtleglo]

I grew up Mennonite and have various friends and family who are practing Amish.
I find it very untastefully that in a time of tragedy that Lucy Walker would want to hightlight the "rumspringa." They are not actually allowed to experiment, but it is often overlooked by the parents and church.
I feel the comentary should have touched more on the peacefull & simplicity lifestyle,helping your fellow brother lifestyle that they are true examples of. May God be with the familys.

[mjv2944]

Leave those people alone. What happened yesterday was a tragedy that propbably not preventable. Leave them to their way of life. They may be a lot better off than we are with all our material things, which aren't really that important.

[dsrohio]

I felt that this commentary on Amish life, at this particular time, was completely tasteless. These people are grieving and you felt it necessary to include this information from the documentary. Sharing this information last week, last month or two months from now would have made it investigative and informational reporting. Throwing it in with your report of the horrendous crime committed against these innocent Amish children, made it unprofessional and opportunistic reporting. Your journalistic efforts were but another crime committed against these greiving people.

[talltimber41]

This type of story needs the type of in depth that Katie gave to it tonight. We live in a troubled world and walk on a knife's edge between civility and chaos. It matters not where we live or what our values are, evil is everywhere and will prevail unless we as individuals slow our lives and pay attention to others. What else can we do? Why would anyone kill these innocent little girls unless they were severely ill? And...neither Republicans nor Democrats have the answers. The answer rests within each of us.