I was raised Amish — and didn’t wear jeans or get my hair cut for 26 years

A young woman has told how she has fled the Amish community and had her haircut and wore a pair of jeans for the first time.

Alisha Green, 26, was a generational member of the Amish and Mennonite community after her parents and grandparents were born into it.

She claims that the community was restrictive as it was recommended that you didn’t have contact with anyone outside of the group.

Alisha claimed that being raised within the Amish community meant she was expected to get married and raise a family instead of going out to work.

She claims that people are kept in the community by fear after being told that bad things will happen to them if they leave.

Alisha Green, 26, was a generational member of the Amish and Mennonite community after her parents and grandparents were born into it. Alisha Green / SWNS

After going for her driving test when she was 18, Alisha realized that life outside of the community wasn’t what she was told and in May 2024, Alisha packed up and has not had contact with her family since.

Since leaving last March, Alisha has had her hair cut and put on a pair of denim jeans for the first time.

Alisha, a delivery driver, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said: “It got to the point where I was either going to leave or stay for the rest of my life.

“I was 26 years old, I was tired of the expectations put on me.

“I was expected to get married and have a child, that is what my parents wanted.

“I didn’t feel like I had the freedom to have a career or live life how I would have wanted.”

Alisha claimed that being raised within the Amish community meant she was expected to get married and raise a family instead of going out to work. Alisha Green / SWNS

Alisha was born in the Amish and Mennonite community, she was homeschooled as a child.

She claims there were a lot of “faith restrictions” and she was warned to stay away from people outside of the Amish community as they didn’t follow god.

Alisha said: “I didn’t even realize how restricted it was until I left, I was able to get my hair cut for the first time and I was able to wear jeans.

“There was an understanding that if you had friends you couldn’t be close with them if they were outside of the community.

“It was encouraged not to have friends outside of the community.”

Alisha claims that religion was law and if you wanted to do anything within the community you would need to get your parent’s permission first.

She said that the teachings of god were misleading.

Alisha said: “For me, it meant that I had to report back to my parents for a lot of my decisions, they were seen as the authority and I had to follow what they said.

“It is the whole community idea that you follow rules and you get your parent’s blessing.

“The main reason I left is because of the faith restrictions.

“I was tired of the expectations as well as I knew that my relationship with god was not supposed to be a legalistic one.”

Alisha said the first time she realized that life outside the community was different to what she had been told was when she went for her driving test.

She said: “Taking the driving test was really eye-opening for me.

“There is a lot of fear within the Amish community that if you leave, bad things are going to happen to you and that is what I feared.

“Seeing other people who weren’t part of Amish culture doing good things was a shock for me.

“In a lot of ways, it made me feel like I was living in a bubble.

“It helped me to see that things weren’t normal in my community.”

Alisha claims that religion was law and if you wanted to do anything within the community you would need to get your parent’s permission first. Alisha Green / SWNS

In May 2024, Alisha was home alone for a week while her family were away.

It was then she decided to pack up and leave with the help of some close friends.

She said: “That time I had alone was really good for me.

“That is when I packed up, I mentioned to my family that I was going to stay somewhere else and I just never went back.”

Alisha said she has not had any contact with her family since and they believe she has been influenced by the devil.

She said: “They think it is a false teaching and think the devil has got hold of me.

“It is sad and I wish they knew that was not the case.

“They are well known within the community and people have been telling them where I have been staying so I have had to keep moving.”

Alisha said that she doesn’t regret leaving and is looking forward to her future.

She said: “Life has been really interesting, there are so many sweet people that I was not expecting to meet.

“In general, I am so glad that I am not in the Amish community anymore.

“I would say life outside of the community is scary, when you have a lot of rules you know what to expect.

“Outside you don’t have any rules so it can be scary and uncomfortable.

“Overall, it has been refreshing that there are people outside who care for me and it is not what was portrayed to me.”