Amish: Remain or Leave?

17

Amish schools are critical in retaining the Amish way of life.

Hostetler and Huntington³⁴have suggested that "for an individual to
become Amish the person must be kept within the Amish community,
physically and emotionally, during the crucial adolescent years."
Amish schools not only protect children from non-Amish influences,
they reinforce Amish values and help to insure that peer groups will

primarily include other Amish children.³⁵

Although Amish parents have many reasons for sending their
children to Amish parochial schools, foremost is their expectation that
the children will be schooled in an educational environment which is
consistent with the values present in their homes. They expect their
teachers to respect and represent their tradition. The teacher's job is
not to teach religion; that is the task of the church and the family.
However, the teacher should teach core values by example. For
example, a teacher should command respect as a person of authority.

As one school manual³⁶suggests, "Be firm and don't argue. Be sure
children understand what is expected of them, and then follow through
with whatever it takes to get them to obey." The teachers with the
best reputation in an Amish community are those who are able to
maintain order in their classrooms.

35_{Mennonite Education:Issues, Facts and Changes(Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1978) has}
suggested that this is the case for Mennonite children who attend Mennonite schools.

36_{. Regulations and Guidelines for Amish Parochial Schools of Indiana, copy in the}
Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen College, Goshen, Ind.