and is not severely condemned (for instance, by Meidung or shunning). Adults who have made a permanent and public commitment to the faith would be held to the higher standards of behavior defined in part by the Schleitheim and Dordrecht confessions. In a narrow sense the young are not bound by the Ordnung because they have not taken adult membership in the church. Amish adolescents do remain, however, under the strict authority of parents who are bound to Ordnung, and there is no period when adolescents are formally released from these rules. It is the period when the young person is regarded as having reached maturity, and is permitted to attend the Sunday night "singings" that are the focus of courtship among the Amish; according to Amish sources, a youth who dares to attend one of these events before the age of 16 might be force-fed warm milk from a spoon, as a good-natured reminder to observe the lines of status. Members of the local church district often attend the singings and usually bring younger children along. A minority of Amish youth do diverge from established customs. Some may be found: Wearing non-traditional clothing and hair styles (referred to as "dressing English") Driving vehicles other than horse-drawn vehicles (for communities that eschew motor vehicles) Not attending home prayer Drinking and using other recreational drugs Not all youth diverge from custom during this period; approximately half in the larger communities and the majority in smaller Amish communities remain within the norms of Amish dress or behavior during adolescence. Almost 90 percent of Amish teenagers choose to be baptized and join the Amish church. Leaving the community Some Amish youth do indeed separate themselves from the community, even going to live among the "English," or non-Amish Americans, experiencing modern technology. Their behavior during this time does not necessarily prevent them from returning for adult baptism into the Amish church. Most of them do not wander far from their family's homes during this time, and large numbers (85%–90%) ultimately choose to join the church. However this proportion varies from community to community, and within a community between more and less acculturated Amish. For example, Swartzentruber Amish have a lower retention rate than Andy Weaver Amish (90% vs 97%; although most of Swartzentruber Amish do not allow teenagers to leave the community during rumspringa at will). This figure was significantly lower as recently as