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A MOMENT OF FRIGHT. 4> C :;) .a .;: Iog " ; • j\'.~~:lIilIat-l_ ... Ilbt..=JH1'··....lR.lt.l ~ r:,·%ru~~~l~~~~; ';' 4> IX ~ I ('ii:~!'t/i~ C • '0 :E • ~ CHAPTER S EVE N In American society during the past several decades, a tendency has developed to diminish parental responsibilities in the area of social and educational development. Increasingly parents are turning over to nonfamily agencies the responsibility of caring for and educating their offspring. Preschool programs, day-care centers, and summer camps as well as the public schools have been assuming an ever-increasing role. Moreover, children of school age are spending less and less time at home. As school units have been consolidated and have thus grown increasingly larger, children are bused to school, leaving home at an 94 The School Controversy earlier hour in the morning and arriving horne later at night. More and more extracurricular activities are available to young people, which means that once again they are absent from the horne for long periods and parents have less involvement in educational activities. The Old Order Amish, with their view of limited parochial education, have experienced none of these developments. The Amish think of the school as an extension of their daily lives; they plan it, provide for its facilities and teachers, participate in its programs, and are totally responsible for its content and conduct. The school board is 9S % CHAPTER SEVEN composed of Amish fathers who no doubt originally paid for and constructed the school building itself. Amish mothers are involved because they help maintain the building by frequent cleanings and the application of an occasional coat of All Amish families in the school district have some control over the of teachers and other policy matters. The school is, in other words, an integral part of their lives. The involvement of the entire family in school matters underscores the attitudes that the Amish hold toward education of their young. Of all the issues that face them today education is perhaps the most controversial and vital. They insist on a separate school setting, away from the centers of population, that does not include school consolidation or busing. In recent years they have also insisted on hiring their own members as teachers. The Amish believe unequivocably in an eighth grade education but not beyond, because they believe that the values taught in high school conflict with their own central re.lig-iotts concepts. Parents stress humility and simplicity and reject worldly ideas and behavior. High schools on the other hand generally emphasize intellectual attainment, social integration and interaction, individual achievement, and competitiveness, some of which are as sinful by Amish parents. Moreover, high school attendance involves some form of transportation, probably busing, and sustained interaction with non-Amish youngsters. The curriculum itself presents problems, as some courses include material that violates Amish religious beliefs, such as the theory of evolution and any study of the human body. Frequently, modern equipment such as television sets are used to present classroom material. The Amish recognize full well the dangers inherent for them in the public school system, and on this issue they will not They know if their children are exposed to the full range of outside influences that most public schools include, it will weaken religious beliefs and ultimately result in large numbers of their young people leaving the Old Order communities. They fear this because not only do they desire to see their children remain physically close to them in the Amish tradition but they also believe that anyone who leaves the Old Order faith faces the of losing salvation for ete~rnity The above comments describe the Iowa Amish school situation today and are also reflective of Amish developments in other parts of the nation. The Iowa Amish did not, however, secure control over their school without a struggle. Their controversy in Buchanan County and can be traced to the 1940s. It was not solved without considerable anguish on the part of all involved. THE SCHOOL CONTROVERSY THE BUCHANAN COUNTY SCHOOL CONTROVERSY 97 During the more than 130 years that the Old Order Amish have lived in Iowa, their history has been a quiet one. They have lived in isolated settings where Amish fathers have farmed small acreages and the children have attended school in one·room country schoolhouses. Since the late 1940s in Buchanan County, however, several changes in the school situation have affected the Plain People. In 1947 the Hazleton Consolidated School District came into being...

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