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The Education of Shelby Knox

What’s the Story?

Reviewed byHeather Boerner
Fifteen-year-old Shelby Knox is the daughter of two God-fearing Republicans in Lubbock, Texas, where the teen STD rate is twice that of the national average and the teen pregnancy rate is high -- and where they only teach abstinence in the schools. Documentary filmmakers Marion Lipschultz and Rose Rosenblatt set out to explore this seeming paradox, and find a willing star in the charismatic Knox. Knox has taken a pledge to stay abstinent until marriage and attends the local Southern Baptist church regularly. But over the three years of the documentary, Knox also becomes one of the most vocal advocates for comprehensive sex education, and fights a school district and community that believes that sex should be taught by parents and only parents. Can Knox help change their mind? And can she and her parents find a resolution between their two very different beliefs?

Is It Any Good?

4
Being a teenager is hard enough without wading into the national battlefield that is sex education. But Shelby in does so enthusiastically and intelligently and leads the viewer on a trip that's both thoroughly thought-provoking and anxiety-producing.

This documentary captures not just Knox's convictions but also her earnest teen angst. After a fight with her parents, she bemoans, "I used to agree with my parents on everything. Then I became… a person. I guess everyone has to become their own person." And she is. She's looking for a boyfriend who won't see other girls, and trying to find the right friends, get into the right college, and keep her parents close. It's this honest portrayal that makes this the perfect documentary for every parent of a teen to watch with their child if they're ready for a healthy debate to follow.

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