The Amish live in what is seemingly a 19th century existence, one that is designed to separate them from the modern world. The Amish live in homes without televisions, phones, automobiles and electricity. They wear clothes made by their wives and mothers; black trousers, suspenders without buttons, ankle length dresses and bonnets. But for children of the Amish, all that changes on their 16th birthday.
   When an Amish teenager turns 16, he is viewed as an adult and encouraged to explore the English world (which the Amish define as anything not Amish) free of parental restrictions. Rumspringa, or "running around", typically lasts anywhere from a few months to several years and, at the end, a young person is expected to decide whether to be baptized into the Amish church. In order to join they have to give up everything they have acquired during rumspringa- the jeans, cars, cell phones, video games and music. To be Amish is to sacrifice. By renouncing the English world, Amish teenagers prove that they are committed to the faith.