Of course the Amish, once they’ve made the informed choice to become Amish, can choose to shun technology and become farmers. But they must not steal the right of choice from their children. Their children deserve the same right as any other child in the United States to make their own free choices. If Amish parents refuse to allow their children to go to school, they are effectively taking choice away. And that’s wrong. A child born to an Amish family must have the same opportunities as a child born anywhere else.

Once that child is an adult, then they’re free to do as they please. That’s already supposed to be the system now. Kids born to Amish families are free to choose not to join the Church. Only they aren’t really free. Because without a high school education, they’re crippled in life.

I chose to leave the fundamentalist Church I was born into. Much of my family did not make the same choice I did. Since I had an education that allowed me to be whatever I wanted to be, I was free. And that’s how things must be for all children. They must be free.