Growing Up Amish: A Teen's Journey Away from Strict Traditions

A mum has revealed what it was like to grow up in a strict Amish family which banned make up and TV - and why she left and never returned.<br /><br />Naomi Swartzentruber, 43, said she was expected to wake up at 5am and help on the farm from the age of five.<br /><br />She left school at 14 - to cook, clean and help with chores full-time.<br /><br />In her teens, she began to rebel in “small” ways like wearing lingerie under her gowns, listening to the radio through her neighbours’ window and secretly dating non-Amish boys. <br /><br />But at 17, she met a man who offered to let her stay with him - so she ran away and hasn’t been back since - and visits her family yearly.