Napoleon54

Apparently they were angry at community elders for breaking up their drinking parties. I actually know where this is, it's ~10 miles from where I went to college and ~5 miles from where my ex grew up.

Vandalism tied to rebellion against Amish discipline
By Gene Warner NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 10/26/07 6:54 AM

The Amish teens accused of a vandalism spree at two homes early this month may have been retaliating against Amish elders who were cracking down on youths’ drinking parties, Cattaraugus County authorities believe.

Five Amish men, all 18 or 19, have been arrested after being accused of smashing windows, flipping buggies over and tearing down mailboxes at two Amish homes early on the morning of Oct. 1, the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

“I would say this stemmed from the elders breaking up the drinking parties that Amish youths were attending,” Sheriff Dennis B. John said in an interview late Thursday.

Describing the Amish community as a close-knit society that takes care of its own problems, John said that Amish elders had found out about some drinking parties and identified some of the young Amish people involved.

“They get pretty strict with them, and they lay down the rules of the land,” John said. “This was basically just a retaliation, that [the youths] were saying, ‘We can do what we want to do.’ ”

John said he doesn’t know how widespread the youth drinking problem is. These youths apparently get someone from outside the Amish community to buy alcohol for them.

“It’s not just limited to our youths drinking,” he said of the age-old problem. “It’s also spilled over to the Amish community and their youths.”

There’s been some history to this problem, dating back to the early and mid-1990s, when Amish youths were involved in drinking with non-Amish young people, John said. Authorities helped break up that problem, he said.

“Now it seems like it’s cycling through again, with a new [group],” the sheriff added.

It is not known whether those arrested were involved in the long-standing Amish tradition of “rumspringa” — a time when young Amish people explore more of the modern world.

“The rumspringa period typically begins at age 16 and continues until they are married,” said Donald B. Kraybill, author of “The Riddle of Amish Culture” and a professor at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. “It’s a period of adolescence, when they hang out with their friends on the weekend, and they’re not under the eye of their parents as much.”

The type of activities Amish people experience in their late teens differs greatly from Amish community to Amish community, he said.

“What varies considerably is how much rowdiness occurs,” Kraybill said. “Typically, it’s a minority that’s [involved in rowdy behavior].”

Sheriff’s officials said that the five suspects, working in concert, did more than $1,200 damage at one home and more than $500 at the other. Both homes are on West Road in the Town of Leon.

Authorities accused the suspects of using large rocks to smash the windows and breaking two bird houses in their early morning rampage, which occurred at about 1:30 a.m.

All five were charged with two counts each of trespass.

Three of them also were charged with two counts each of criminal mischief: Jonas J. Hershberger, 19, of Frank Road, Cattaraugus; Robert J. Shetler, 19, of Bentley Hill Road, Conewango Valley; and Eli B. Hostetler, 18, of West Road, Conewango Valley.

Those three were sent to the Cattaraugus County Jail in lieu of bail: $2,500 each for Hostetler and Shetler and $1,000 for Hershberger, following arraignment Wednesday night in Leon Town Court.

The other two people arrested, Henry J. Shetler, 18, of Bentley Hill Road, Conewango Valley; and Eli E. Miller, 18, of Flat Iron Road, Conewango Valley, were released on their own recognizance after arraignment.

John expects the case to follow its normal path through the courts, with the victims seeking restitution and the defendants perhaps serving some kind of community service once the case is resolved.

Linky

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ArkiStan

Classic acts of Amish teenage outrage. Let's hope this doesn't lead to tragic bow-and-arrow massacres at the schools. Cause the violence seen in printed media and board games may be negatively influencing the Amish youths of today.

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zenbooty

I smell a nationwide craze of "buggy tipping" coming, thanks to this article.

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Thesifer

Were they knocking back the O'douls again!? those crazy Amish kids!

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