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The Education of Shelby Knox

(2006, Rated NR, Documentary, Starring Shelby Knox, Ricky Waite, Amanda Noble)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 14, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 14.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Teen sex docu preps families for a healthy debate.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 14–15

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    Shelby and her parents talk openly about issues they disagree with and encourage their daughter to follow her dreams. Teens and adults deal with the hot-button issue of teen sex in a mature way, though they often disagree.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    One teen talks about boys trying to hit him with a baseball bat.

  • Sex:

    Talk about abstinence and abstinence pledges, and sex with and without a condom. One sex educator shows how to put a condom on a dildo. Girls are ascribed a point value for how much sexual experience they have and then boys try to go out with the girls with the least experience and "screw" them. Some kissing and hugging, but nothing explicit. Gay teens are shown, sometimes with arms around their shoulder, but no kissing and nothing explicit. A school official is discovered to be having an affair at the office. There's talk about teens who are gay having a life-expectancy of 40 years and being sinners, and talk of teens who have sex being "like dogs on a streetcorner."

  • Language:

    Ocassional swearing, including "f--k" and "hell."

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    One girl talks about having liquor bottles as "best friends" but no one drinks on-screen.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About The Education of Shelby Knox

Parents need to know that this documentary looks critically at abstinence-only education and its religious underpinnings. It talks openly about teen sex, abstinence-only education, and contraception use, and is likely to upset most viewers at some point. Depending on the political bent of the viewers, they'll be offended either by the push for comprehensive sex education in the school or the push for abstinence-only education. Shelby hangs out with gay teens.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about what they believe about teen sex and sex education. Whose side would you agree with if you lived in that community? How would parents deal with a child who opposes everything they believe in? Would they support their child the way Shelby's parents support her? Do you agree with the depiction of religion in the film? Do you agree with Ed Ainsworth's idea that "Christianity is the most intolerant religion in the world"?
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