The "Will The Children Win: Part II?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Torah Bontrager, whom I wrote about yesterday, wanted to overturn the 1972 Wisconsin v. Yoder Supreme Court decision which would allow Amish children to complete a high school education as well as address sexual abuse within the Plain sect community.  Many Amish leaders know about the sexual abuse, but can't seem to realize that the two issues are related.  

Children outside a one-room school house in Lancaster.

At no time during an Amish child's eight years of education is sex education discussed.  You just don't do that!  And, Torah thinks it should be taught since the lack of sex ed can lead to abuse within the community.  A woman who was raised Amish in Lancaster County, but has since left the the church, says there is so much sexual abuse within the Amish community and most Amish don't get the correlation between schooling and sexual abuse.  Torah was sexually assaulted by relatives when she was a child and teenager.  She said her mother gave her pamphlets which explained puberty, but never discussed anything with her except to tell her to stay away from the boys.  When she had her first period she had no idea what had happened so she buried her underwear at the bottom of the hamper and was beaten when her mother saw what had happened.  Many of the Amish leaders believe sex is something to be talked about in the home and not in the classroom.  Evidently that's not happening at present.  And Torah believes that's very critical in today's world to teach sex in school.  

An Amish classroom taught by a young girl who perhaps
knows nothing about sex education herself.

One Amish leader believes it would be worse if it were taught in school.  So, the vicious cycle continues and sex education is not taught at all.  Mr. Donald Kraybill, a Professor at Elizabethtown College, is widely considered an expert on the Amish and agrees that sexual abuse is a problem, but not more so than in the average population.  The biggest problem is patriarchy and male dominance, which happens to be a problem in the Amish community.  But, Torah believes lack of education also plays a big role.  She told of being raped at the age of 15 and no one in the Amish community helped her.  You just didn't talk about that kind of stuff.  She said she has since talked with an Amish bishop from Illinois who told her that their Amish leadership committee now has a policy to report such occurrences to the police.  A huge breakthrough, but will it affect Lancaster County?  Torah has now learned that the Lancaster County Amish community has implemented an initiative called the Conservative Crisis Intervention Committee who will report cases to the local police.  But, she still believes sex education, even in 7th or 8th grade can go a long way toward reducing sexual abuse in the Amish community.  Here's hoping that the Amish community will realize what is happening in their community and do something to correct it.  But, will it be in my lifetime?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.