♪♪ ♪♪ -It's 7:00 am in Ohio, in the Midwest region of the United States.

♪♪ 20 or so children get off the school bus.

♪♪ They are all Amish -- a Christian community that lives according to traditions dating back to the 17th Century and that shuns modernity.

The girls wear long dresses and bonnets.

The boys wear shirts and suspenders.

♪♪ They have their own schools.

Each day begins with a song of praise.

♪♪ -♪ Just as a sunrise ♪ ♪ Upon a clear spring day ♪ [ Singing indistinctly ] ♪♪ -James has been the principal of this school for 29 years.

His pupils are between the ages of 11 and 14.

The boys sit on one side, the girls on the other.

♪♪ -The teacher follows the set national education program, but the lessons are adapted to correspond to the fundamental principles of the Bible.

-Our social studies and science is based on scriptural principles, and our churches stay clear from the evolution theory.

We go by the Bible.

-The Amish unquestionably consider themselves the descendants of Adam and Eve and reject the theory of evolution and the recent scientific discoveries.

♪♪ They have their own schoolbooks.

♪♪ -Math book has -- But it will have word problems based on things we agree with.

It will have problems about Abraham, Methuselah from the Bible, and things a mom gives her child each day -- things like that based on our culture, yes.

-For Amish children, schooling ends at the age of 14, whereas education in the United States is compulsory until the age of 16.

The Amish, however, were granted a special exemption by the Supreme Court in 1972.

-Our culture seems to work best when they're ninth graders to work with dad or mom, even start going out, helping neighbors, and in going to shops and appropriate businesses from there, get their training there.

More of a vocational training than just education.

We'll never be doctors and veterinarians or dentists, yeah.

-Why not?

Why not?

-It conflicts -- their lifestyle conflicts with our basic beliefs.

-Access to science and technology is seen as a threat to their traditional lifestyle.

♪♪ The future seems to be all mapped out for these children.

♪♪ -Mike, what are you going to do next year, ninth grade?

What's your goals?

-I'll go work in the shop.

-His dad has a shop.

-Ethan?

-Help farm.

-Jessica, girls side?

-Help Mom at home.

-For the Amish, too much education would risk alienating the children from the community and subject them to the temptations of the modern world.

♪♪ It's one of the most insulated communities in the United States.

Originating from Switzerland, Germany, and the eastern France region of Alsace, the Amish fled religious persecution and arrived in America in the early 18th Century.

♪♪ They settled in the east, predominantly in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Today, their estimated population is over 360,000.

Extremely conservative Christians, they obey the rules of their church, which haven't evolved for over three centuries.

A simple and rigorous lifestyle -- no car, no electricity, no telephone -- they reject any intrusion of modernity.

The Amish shun cameras, but Pete and Ruth have exceptionally agreed to open their doors to us and let us discover their way of life.

-It's hooked up to the gas, and then it comes through here.

This is what -- it's called a mantle.

-The Amish keep to themselves and marry only within the community.

A consequence of this, however, is the increasing incidence of genetic and hereditary diseases.

-They call these children God's special children because they're not like everybody else.

-There's a subgroup of Amish who live according to even stricter rules in quasi-autarchy.

They're called the Swartzentruber.

-We believe if we go out, the world, we're more apt to get involved in things that would lead us into sin or lead us into immoral things.

-For some young people, this family pressure can be too paralyzing.

Cheryl decided to leave her community.

-I feel like a free bird.

I can go anywhere I want.

-Some Amish adapt their traditional lifestyle when they're on vacation.

Every winter, Amish families meet up on the Florida beaches, where the younger members are able to enjoy new experiences.

-Whoo!

Great view of God's world.

♪♪ -An inside look at this community, which resists the influence of the modern world in the heart of the United States, one of the world's most developed countries.

♪♪ It's autumn in Ohio, a state rich in farmland where the Amish have predominantly settled.

Here in Holmes County, one in two residents is Amish.

They live on countryside farms, easily recognizable by their red-painted barns and no power lines in sight.

♪♪ In the towns, a Swiss chalet or the facades of a Bavarian brewery -- reminders of the Amish's European origins.

♪♪ In the streets, among the cars, dozens of black horse-pulled buggies -- the only vehicle allowed in the community.

♪♪ And everywhere you look, men in dark suits and women in traditional dresses.

But it's against their religion to be filmed.

♪♪ One of the community leaders, however, finally agrees to let us into his home to explain to us the rules of his church on one condition -- not to show his face.

♪♪ -I would look at it more as just drawing attention to ourselves.

And you will never see portraits on our bureaus or walls.

If you would do it they would frown on it.

It would be a shame to do it.

-As a sign of modesty and humility, he receives us barefoot.

The Amish want to resist the temptations of the modern world at all costs.

♪♪ -We want to keep the old... and the old way of living.

Should I be willing to deny myself things of this world so my grandchildren can have a good life?

I think so.

I want to so my grandchildren also have a possibility of not being just sucked up into modernity.

-The pastor nevertheless agrees to put us in contact with one of his friends, Pete, 59 years old -- a very conservative, old order Amish man.

He knows a few words of French inherited from his Alsatian ancestors.

-Whoa!

Okay, girl.

[ Clicks mouth ] -Since childhood, his sole means of locomotion is his horse-drawn carriage.

-It's very peaceful.

A lot of time to look around and enjoy the scenery along the road.

Probably the farthest we've ever gone in one day with the horse and buggy was like 17 miles one way and then go back 17 again, so that's 34 miles.

And we had a tired horse by the time we got home, but he was fine.

Horse was fine.

-Pete's a dairy farmer who runs the family farm.

♪♪ He and his wife, Ruth, have six children and live here now with their three youngest daughters... ♪♪ ...a son-in-law, two grandchildren, and Pete's father.

It's corn-harvest season.

Pete harnesses his horses.

He doesn't use a tractor, as it's forbidden by his church.

-Easy, boy.

Easy.

Whoa!

Back up, back up.

It's a lot of work, but I have to work something, so this is my lifestyle.

I enjoy it.

It's peaceful, sitting behind the horses, driving the horses.

♪♪ -To cut his corn, he uses an old, horse-drawn, diesel-powered harvester, a model that's no longer sold commercially and used solely by the Amish.

-It takes more time, but less acreage to cover the smaller fields.

And so we try to get our crops in in a timely manner and then harvest them before winter sets in.

-It'll take him 10 days to finish his field, whereas a modern machine would have done the job in just a few hours.

♪♪ -One of 11 children, Pete was the only one willing to take over the family farm.

♪♪ His father taught him everything he needed to know, and at 88 years old, he's still here to lend a helping hand.

-I'm not old enough for that.

I'll move on, okay?

-Alright.

-Hup.

-In the past, everything was done by hand.

But in order to compete and survive in the modern age, Pete and his father had to make concessions by buying some machines.

-Years ago.

we were all farmers.

-Yeah.

Just not that way anymore.

And it's just the way it is.

The farms are not available anymore.

There's just so many more people, and... -Yeah.

Amish people are growing.

Also, the population is growing.

-Every 20 years, it's doubled, they say.

[ Laughs ] -Pete's father is right.

Between 2000 and 2020, the Amish population increased from 180,000 to 360,000.

♪♪ While the men are out in the fields, the women take care of the house.

Ruth makes all the family's clothes.

Amish fashion hasn't changed since the 19th Century.

The only new element -- the solar-powered sewing machine, tolerated by the Church.

It's for my granddaughter.

But I especially like to make little dresses.

They're my favorite.

-Ruth follows the traditional dress pattern to the letter, the same one for all.

-It's maybe, like, between ankle and knee, you know, for the length.

And otherwise, you know, it's just modesty -- you know, a modest dress or whatever.

Pretty well plain Jane.

[ Laughs ] -Do you like it?

-I don't mind it.

-Because when you see, like, sparkling dresses or, you know, that -- -Well, you know, the human in me sometimes, you know, you would want to.

But, then, still, since we never did, you know, it's just -- you know, that's just not -- that's not us.

So it's not a big deal, really, so -- [ Laughs ] -Plain dresses, no makeup, no jewelry.

The only permitted accessory is the bonnet.

-This is what I wear to go to church.

-Simplicity to be close to God.

-And then we like this.

Basically long sleeves.

Yeah, mm-hmm.

It's kind of nice to see everybody wear the same, you know?

It's comforting, yeah.

I like it like that, yeah.

-Individualism is frowned upon by the Amish.

The community comes first.

Men and women must remain in their place.

♪♪ It's late afternoon and milking time.

Pete has 36 cows -- just enough to feed the family.

♪♪ [ Hissing ] -This is the engine that drives, powers everything that we use to milk the cows.

I put this system in.

-It seems complicated.

-Yeah, it is.

But it works.

-Using the diesel engine from an old car, he's managed to provide power for his entire farm.

Pete isn't allowed to connect to the local power grid.

That's forbidden.

Like all Amish, he spends his life compromising with the modern world.

-For me, I'm well-satisfied this way.

I am.

If we get electricity, it will bring other things along into the church.

Yeah.

It'll bring probably TV and stuff like that.

You know, it'd be handy, just plug it in and watch that.

And I'm against that.

I'm not gonna say it's wrong, but it's not something that I want to do.

And I see families that children grow up with TV, and you can see it, you know?

And so I think to keep our lives simple and keep our tradition the way it is, we need to stay away from stuff like that.

-A little bit of modern technology is permitted, but only in a work context.

-We used to do it by hand.

25 years ago, we got the milking machines, which is a lot more convenient for us -- more cows.

-Ill-equipped to compete, many Amish farmers have had to abandon their activity in recent years, much to Pete's regret.

-And it's changing the way of our life.

More and more people getting off the farm.

It changes the culture of the Amish.

It does.

-Oh, yeah?

Yeah?

-Oh, yeah.

More freedom, doing their work and going out in the evening and just pleasure.

Some people call it tied down -- "Oh, you're tied down."

But to me, it's not.

I enjoy what I'm doing.

I enjoy it.

So I don't feel -- -You could sell your farm for a big amount of money.

-I could, I could.

I could and never have to work again.

But what good would it do me?

I'd have the money, but have nothing else.

To me, the farm is worth a lot more than than the money.

♪♪ -Pete could sell his farm for over $2 million, but he wants his daughter and son-in-law to take over the farm and perpetuate the tradition.

♪♪ In the Amish community, the men and the women work tirelessly.

♪♪ Three times a week, Ruth does the family's laundry using machines from the 1950s, powered by solar panels.

-It's my washing machine.

This squeezes.

This is the wringer, and it squeezes out the water.

And I rinse them twice.

-The church forbids the use of a modern washing machine.

-It would be easier, but I guess this is just the way I've always done it, so...I don't know.

It would be -- especially on rainy days, it would be a lot easier with a dryer, also.

But...

This is the way we do it, I guess.

Yeah.

-In Holmes County in recent years, some families bought washing machines, but were quickly called to order by the Church officials.

-They'll tell you that, you know, we want to watch ourselves and stay away more from the more modern stuff.

And yeah, they have to give it up and give it back.

-An austere lifestyle and strict rules don't prevent some Amish from making a fortune, however... ♪♪ ...thanks to their know-how, particularly in furniture-making.

♪♪ This is the case for Roy, 61 years old.

He runs one of the biggest companies in the region.

He started manufacturing solid-wood furniture 30 years ago.

His business is very successful, thanks to a well-tested marketing argument -- 100% Amish quality.

♪♪ -So, it's a really cool chair.

They lasts forever.

You can't hardly destruct them unless you want to.

Wholesale price, you're gonna be between $140 and -- Well, this one here is $334.

But for the most part, we're between $140 and $180.

We sell a lot of them.

It's a good thing.

Yeah.

Excuse me.

-Roy has 30 employees, all Amish.

They hand-make thousands of tables and chairs that are sold all over the United States.

His turnover today is several million dollars.

For Roy, being successful is not incompatible with the Amish lifestyle.

-We're not limited on what we can make.

The Bible says money is the root of all evil.

Well, it doesn't have to be the root of evil, I mean, not if you use it the way you're supposed to.

-The Amish have created their own bank and investment funds that are used to help the less fortunate members of the community.

-It's shared here a lot.

You know, there's always needy families.

And that's the the Amish community as a whole.

They really chip in and help each other.

But, you know, I have investments for retirement.

We don't have Social Security, you know, when I retire, so I need a retirement so that I can live until -- you know, have money to live until where we die.

♪♪ -In his business, Roy follows Church doctrine to the letter.

His factory isn't connected to the local power grid, but runs on a diesel engine-powered generator.

♪♪ The women are allowed to work, but only until they get married or until the birth of their first child.

♪♪ Martha is 22 years old.

She's been working in this factory for three years, but she'll have to leave soon to become a good traditional wife.

-When she gets married, her mind's gonna shift, and she's -- you know, she's gonna have to take care of the home and the house.

And, you know, she knows she's not gonna get paid for it, but that's what she does for her hopefully coming family and her husband.

So it's a big mind shift, isn't it?

-I'm gonna miss working.

-They miss with working with the people.

They're all friends.

-But it's not possible to raise children and to work at the same time?

-Amish don't do that.

-No?

-The belief is that if you have children, the mother should be the caretaker of the children and raise them up.

They don't want to give -- let somebody else raise the children and indoctrinate them with something that the parents wouldn't agree, go out in the workplace on a regular basis.

No.

You just don't see it.

And we frown upon that.

♪♪ -Martha has no choice but to obey the community rule.

♪♪ Despite having made millions, this business owner visits his various factories not in a luxury car with a driver, but on an electric bike.

♪♪ His office is next to his house, and he works there with four of his sons.

♪♪ The first computers arrived here 10 years ago.

-It's so hard to do business without at least using some of it.

You have to progress a little bit.

So that means that there are times you have to let people use some stuff that they weren't previously allowed.

The Church kind of gives us our guidelines, so we we try to do what the leaders want.

-The church has allowed the use of computers on the condition that they aren't connected to the Internet.

They can only be used for accounting purposes.

As for cellphones, only old models are tolerated, again, without Internet access.

-A cellphone as long as it's a flip phone and not a smartphone.

Ohio is about the only place they sell these, and they're trying not to make them anymore.

But it's the Amish people that -- Yeah, that use it.

♪♪ -But for some Amish, the use of telephones or computers is totally unthinkable.

One subgroup in particular, the most conservative, refuses any intrusion of modernity into their daily lives.

They're called the Swartzentruber.

Their farms are recognizable by their red-colored buildings.

The work in the fields is done entirely by hand.

No machines are allowed.

There are only around 5,000 of them, and they're extremely private.

One family has exceptionally agreed to open its doors to us on one condition -- not to show the adults' faces, again for religious reasons.

-Hello.

Welcome.

Come on in.

-We're greeted by Harvey, 31 years old, a farmer and father of four children.

They've never seen a film camera before.

In this house, time stopped in the 19th Century.

-And this is where we do our cooking and baking.

Put our wood in here.

[ Baby crying ] We don't use any electricity.

Everything's wood-fired.

-The family lives in quasi-autarchy.

They get their drinking water from the well.

-This is where we -- This is our drinking water.

[ Sink running ] Then we have our rainwater we gather from out here.

Water.

Everything runs from the roof.

Runs into that cistern there, cistern tank.

It's not drinking water, but we use for washing.

♪♪ -Comfort is reduced to a strict minimum.

Everything here is austere, including their dark clothing.

♪♪ Harvey married Anna when he was 22 years old.

They hardly ever leave their house.

They've never worked in the city, as this is forbidden.

♪♪ -I'd say it's probably more conservative.

We don't use a phone unless, like, emergencies.

We don't hire somebody to drive us unless it's like a doctor or something.

We believe if we go out in the world, we're more apt to get involved in things that would lead us into sin or lead us into immoral things.

-No leisure activities, no television or radio -- nothing that could distract them from their beliefs.

♪♪ Upstairs, the monastic-style children's rooms -- bare walls, no photos -- rules they obey blindly without really knowing why.

-I'm not even sure where, but I think the scripture says not to have photographs of our faces, so -- -You listen to music or -- Sometimes or -- -No.

We don't listen to music.

We don't have any musical instruments.

The only music we have is what we sing.

♪♪ -But one revolutionary element much appreciated by Harvey has recently been introduced into the household.

It's in the basement.

♪♪ And you can use this light?

-Yeah, we can use a flashlight.

Yeah.

The church started letting them use that.

It's been a couple of years, I'd say.

Use it quite a bit, like, in the barn.

-A refrigerator, on the other hand, is forbidden by their church.

All the family food has to be preserved in jars.

-We have... applesauce and fruits.

A lot of vegetables.

-Meals to get us through the winter.

Usually about this time of the year, we start, too, our meat, like, butcher a couple pigs.

-Self-sufficiency and green energy.

The Swartzentrubers have been practicing ecology for over a century.

The family milk supply comes from a cow that Harvey milks daily.

Like most young Swartzentrubers, Harvey had no choice but to work on the farm.

♪♪ -Nobody's really permitted to go out and work in town.

We'll try to keep them from the environment.

They'll get into more things and get into temptation and... ♪♪ -Every night before dinner, by the light of the kerosene lamp, the family praise in silence.

♪♪ By keeping their children isolated from the modern world, the Swartzentrubers have managed to maintain their lifestyle for over a century.

♪♪ Although they have no smartphone, radio, or television, the Amish do have a newspaper -- The Budget.

Established in 1890, it's their main source of information.

At its head, Marcus Miller.

He isn't Amish himself, but his ancestors were.

-So, the printing looked pretty good this week.

♪♪ - The Budget is a 50-page weekly publication that doesn't contain a single photo.

-This is their sports, this is their television, because they're not allowed access to those modern conveniences.

So this is their Facebook.

That way, they can keep up of what's going on in the community, have a laugh or two, but still learning about what's going on.

-They announce births in the paper a lot.

They announce deaths.

You know, they announce if somebody has been hospitalized.

I mean, things that you wouldn't be able to tell in these large families, to be able to contact with everybody -- you know, they are able to put this in the paper so that their family all knows.

-No journalists are employed here.

The newspaper is composed entirely of handwritten letters sent by Amish people.

Marcus receives 100 or so of them daily.

No mention of current news stories, just everyday events in the life of the community.

-So, a letter from a scribe in Webster, Kentucky.

He opens by, "Leaves are steadily changing color, transforming our wooded hillsides from deep summer greens to red and yellows, hues of autumns."

Morning temperatures have us reaching for our jackets before going out the door."

So they're writing about what's happening in their community -- the weather, who visited, who had church, any other anecdotal stories that might be happening in their community.

-The newspaper is extremely popular.

Each issue has a circulation of 90,000 copies, and sales are continuing to grow.

♪♪ The Amish don't want to depend on the American social system.

They have their own mutual-aid funds and rely on the solidarity of all the members of the community.

♪♪ On Pete and Ruth's farm, the family's busy.

♪♪ They've learned that the newborn son of their former neighbor, Aaron, has had serious health problems.

-Okay.

There we go.

They've organized a collection for him.

-They fill boxes with essential products and items that could be of use to the family, including toys for the children.

-Oh, yeah.

-10 other families are participating in the collection.

-That's great.

-Yeah.

Some cookies.

-Oh, my favorite.

-Yeah.

That is the community that we live in is helping each other out.

It is.

And that's very important to me.

-And we've been on the receiving end.

-Yes, we have.

-And so, yeah, it's -- -It would be very independent for a needy family if we would just turn our backs and, you know, "Look for yourself.

We don't care what you do."

You know, that's not us.

That's not us.

-Tomorrow, the family will travel over 100 kilometers to deliver these gifts.

In the meantime, they gather together to sing.

Pete's father plays a traditional Amish instrument, the dulcimer, which dates back to the Middle Ages.

The family sings German religious songs.

-Watch your step.

We're going down.

-The next morning, Pete and Ruth are eager to go and surprise their former neighbors.

For the trip, they've reserved a car with a driver.

The Amish are allowed to have a driver for long distance trips.

The whole family takes part in the adventure.

They have a two-hour drive ahead of them... ...to reach the wooded valleys in Eastern Ohio, where land is cheaper and where young Amish families are now attempting to settle.

Aaron and Mary, Pete and Ruth's former neighbors, are surprised to see their friends arrive with all these gifts.

-Yeah.

-Thank you much.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, you're welcome.

-The couple allows us into their home, a house they're renting until they have their own.

Aaron and Mary have never been filmed before, but they're proud to show us their family and their newborn baby.

-That's my wife, Mary.

And that's Baby Levi.

Special guy, I guess.

-Levi was born with Down syndrome and physical deformities for which he had to be operated.

His father took time out from his farmwork to take care of him.

But thanks to donations from the community, the family's medical expenses, of over $70,000, were fully covered.

In the Amish community, children with Down syndrome have a special place.

-They call these these children God's special children because they're not like everybody else.

You realize that the good Lord is actually in your life.

Try to make the best out of it we can.

We're going to have fun with this guy, but if we're going to look on all the downside, we're going to cry the rest of our life.

It's the matter of just not being so narrow-minded, you can't see the sunny side of a dark cloud, I guess.

-To me, it was not really anything to accept.

When he was a baby -- I have two special sisters.

-I'd say it's just, you know, yeah, part of life.

-To me, we just kind of take care of their special needs.

It's just something, yeah.

[ Laughs ] -For centuries, marriage among the Amish has been restricted to the inner circle of the community.

This has resulted in a higher rate of genetic and hereditary diseases in this group.

This children's clinic, established eight years ago, focuses exclusively on these pathologies.

Dr. Wenger, a pediatrician, belongs to a more modern church, but one that's close to the Amish.

Today she has an appointment with a child who has a hereditary disease that affects the lungs.

-So, how's Mark doing, then?

-Oh, he's doing good, yeah.

He has some nerve issues in school and everything, but.

-Okay.

If it gets worse or he's really resisting going to school, then we should probably talk, so.

-I think he's getting on the way out.

-That's good.

-This morning, he had breakfast once.

-Oh, good!

So, sometimes we miss breakfast because our stomach hurts?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-[ Laughs ] -Okay.

So, I think we're ready to get your bloodwork done now.

-Mark has been under the pediatrician's care since his birth.

In accordance with the values of the community, Amish couples don't want to know their genetic profile, nor do they want to use contraception, in accordance with the rules of their church.

Dr. Wenger only discusses this choice with them if they ask about it.

-What working here gives me is a chance to kind of fit how I grew up into something useful, you know?

I can understand what the community values and then sometimes be an interpreter.

Sometimes you get stuck in the middle of a conflict, but that's okay.

[ Laughter ] -Yeah, we believe children are a gift from God and we do have that in mind, that CF can happen, but, yeah, it's still something that, we love babies, but we still let God control it.

-Yeah.

-Put your finger out for me.

-The mother won't have anything to pay.

Everything is covered by the community, according to each family's income and number of children.

♪♪ -It was good to see you again.

I'll tell your mom how things looked in your bloodwork, okay?

-Sounds good.

-Alright.

-Thank you.

-Bye!

-Bye.

-For the past ten years or so, Dr. Wenger has been analyzing the genetics of the Ohio Amish community.

-In terms of conditions with a diagnosis, Down syndrome would be the most common.

Over generations, if people are very strict about who they'll let their young people marry, then, just by default, things become more isolated in their genetics as well, yeah.

-Despite their daily contact with the modern world, the Amish almost never allow outsiders into the family.

This leads some young people to distance themselves from the community.

This is the case with Cheryl, 30 years old.

The young woman left the Amish community a year ago.

She now works as a waitress in this busy downtown café.

-I really enjoy it, yeah.

I started in -- let me see.

Was it like February or March?

Yeah.

So, it's not quite a year that I'm here.

So, it's $1.11 yet.

But, yeah, get to meet lots of new people.

-It's thanks to this job that Cheryl was able to leave.

She belonged to a very strict Amish group.

With her savings, she bought a car -- her lifelong dream.

[ Alarm beeping ] By driving, she's doing something that's totally forbidden by her community, but she loves it.

-I feel like a free bird.

[ Laughter ] I can go anywhere I want.

-Cheryl is still religious and continues to wear the traditional bonnet and dress, but she's now joined a more liberal community.

She could no longer tolerate living with her parents and obeying the ultra strict rules of their church.

-I couldn't really see myself Amish all my life.

They just thought it was rebellious because I was the type of person that I always wanted something to do.

For me, to be at home a few evenings was just too much and they just thought we should have more family time, be at home more, and do stuff as a family, instead of always looking to do something with your friends or whoever.

I arrived at my home now.

I live in the basement of this house.

-Cheryl has an appointment with a friend who needs comforting.

[ Knock at door ] -Hello.

Come on in.

-Hello.

-How are you?

[ Laughs ] -Good.

How are you?

I'm good.

-Neeva is 26 years old.

She, too, broke away from the pressures of the Amish community just a month ago.

-Or eat or something?

-For that, the members of her church are threatening her with exclusion for two years.

She'll no longer be able to live with her family or participate in community events.

-If they put me in the Bann, I would probably not be allowed to like eat with my family or anybody else that is still Amish.

I always think I'm prepared for it, but then the thought of like not being able to be with my family is still kind of hard like to accept.

I wouldn't know what I would do without them because I still love my family.

-And I wonder, sometimes, do you think they do the Bann or whatever so that people want to come back, because it's easier than contending with the Bann?

-Yeah.

[ Suspenseful music plays ] -Like Cheryl, Neeva has joined a more modern church -- that of the Mennonites.

Close to the Amish, this group is more permissive.

The young women can watch movies, use the Internet... ...and they can also go out whenever they want.

Once a week, Cheryl meets up with a group of friends in a sports hall.

Half are Mennonite, half are Amish.

Her Mennonite cousin Lavon is among them.

He was the one who supported her when she left her church.

In the Amish community, baptism takes place at adulthood.

For the church, it's a conscious choice that can't be questioned.

-Some of the Amish churches would use baptism as a trap and then that way, if they ever decide to leave the church, they can use that as blackmail, basically, to keep them there or to make them feel guilty to leave.

-Thankfully, I had cousins and uncles and stuff that helped me out, or I would probably never have made it, but I wouldn't want to do it again.

[ Laughter ] -Unlike Cheryl, none of the young people here want to leave their respective churches.

They accept the strict rules and none of them can imagine marrying outside their community.

Like Jayvon and Marcus -- one is Mennonite; the other, Amish.

-Say I would meet a girl from his church.

I would have to make the decision, "Okay, do I want her or do I want to stay Amish?"

Or does she want to join the Amish?

It's very possible that anybody can join the Amish.

It rarely happens because it's such a different lifestyle, so.

There'd be a lot of adjusting to do.

-The fear of going out to a world culture, whereas, you might find a good Christian wife there, but the fear there is will she stay faithful?

[ Melancholy tune plays ] -For these young people, it's difficult to open up to others, to imagine a different life.

But far from Ohio, there's a place where some Amish seem ready to enjoy the attractions of the modern world.

♪♪ [ Upbeat tune plays ] [ Gulls crying ] ♪♪ With its guaranteed year-round sunshine, Florida is a favorite destination for American tourists and retirees.

And, surprisingly, for the past few years, it's now become a popular winter vacation spot for the Amish.

They gather here from December to March to enjoy the sunshine, far away from the harsh climate of the northern states where they live.

[ Bicycle bell rings ] Their headquarters is 20 minutes from the beach.

Pinecraft, a small town about half a square mile in size.

The first Amish settled here in 1920 and gradually created their own village, 100% Amish.

During the high season, the population increases from 100 to 2,000 inhabitants, mostly retirees.

[ Whimsical tune plays ] Wilma is one of Pinecraft's local figures.

She discovered this place 60 years ago and lives here six months out of the year.

♪♪ Wilma works at the Der Dutchman Amish restaurant, which receives over 500 customers daily.

♪♪ Wilma's specialty is the Amish fruit pie, covered with a generous layer of whipped cream.

-How old are you?

-I'll be 78 in March.

-And you still like to do that, to work?

-Well, if I don't work, you know what happens?

I get old and moldy.

[ Laughs ] -The restaurant is known for its typical Amish cuisine, but it's, above all, a place where families scattered throughout the country gather together at vacation time.

-Okay, so here's where all these different groups are.

At one time, they always came like with a driver, like a station wagon.

But then they graduated to the 15-passenger vans and now, they come by the hundreds, on buses.

-While Wilma's at work, at the other end of the village, her husband, John, indulges in his favorite pastime -- shuffleboard.

♪♪ John's a leading member of his church in Kentucky.

-Two of them.

-He's seen Pinecraft change over the years, with the arrival of younger and younger Amish people.

-Good.

-Back when we were young, people didn't travel like they do now.

-They didn't have the money.

-Yeah, they didn't have the money.

-Now, it's prosperous and people have money and they travel, you know?

-So, vacation is compatible, I mean, with the Amish way of life?

-Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

-Would you say so, yeah?

-We don't encourage, you know, extravagance, but... -Right.

-...but you heard what he said, you know, people have more money now and we don't really -- I don't encourage young people with children to spend a lot of time down here.

It's not -- We wouldn't encourage that.

We try to maintain our lifestyle even when you're traveling.

-Most retired Amish stay in the village and don't even go to the beach.

But the new generation is determined to take advantage of the seaside leisure activities.

In this residential district of Pinecraft, Ryan and Lisa have rented a large house for their entire family.

-The toys.

-They're 29 years old and have come here from Iowa with their four children and Lisa's parents and sisters.

Ryan, who's made his fortune as a poultry farmer, takes just one week of vacation a year.

-Well, we take it easy.

[ Laughter ] We don't do much.

Yeah, we do something, but we're not working.

-The house has all the modern comforts that the Amish don't have back home and, in particular, television.

-We don't television at home.

We have it here because we rent the house, so, it's here, yeah.

-And you can use it, even though it's -- -Yeah, we would watch like farm stuff and singing and, yeah.

-For their stay, Ryan's rented an electric golf cart... -Hold on tight.

-...a vehicle that the Amish community tolerates here.

♪♪ The family has chosen Siesta Beach, the region's most famous beach.

28° Celsius, and crystal clear water for swimming.

The children are seeing the sea for the very first time.

-Well, when you go farther out, then it gets deeper, but right here, around here, is not.

-The whole family continues to wear their traditional clothes.

The Amish don't undress in public.

♪♪ -We can wear something that would still cover us, but we wouldn't wear something that would not, you know, that wouldn't cover.

Yeah, we would swim.

-Yeah, but not here.

I mean, now, if it's a private pond, we would.

But here, with all the people, no.

-Even in sunny Florida, the couple follows the rules of their church.

[ Mid-tempo tune plays ] The young people have more freedom, but this doesn't include going to clubs or bars.

The most popular activity among the Amish youth is parasailing.

These 20-year-old-girls are from Indiana and they're about to take to the air for the first time.

While still wearing their traditional dress.

♪♪ -Aaaaaaah!

-This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, probably.

-Thankfully.

[ Laughs ] -It's a great view of God's world.

♪♪ -All the temptations of the modern world are within reach here in Florida... ...yet no one on this boat seems willing to cross the line.

-There are a few things here in Florida that we might -- like we might watch TV a little bit or something, that we wouldn't, you know, might not do at home.

It's one of those things where... ...the rules might be slightly relaxed, but I still try to follow my convictions.

We don't party too hard, no.

-[ Laughs ] -We don't drink, stuff like that.

♪♪ -According to a study conducted by an American university in 2021, when they come of age, more than 85% of young Amish people choose to stay in their community.

Each year, they settle in new territories.

Today, in the United States, the Amish are present in about 30 states.

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