The documentary "The Education of Shelby Knox" gets off to a rocky start in showing the high school life of Shelby Knox, who at first seems trapped in a telvision special as a musical theater diva. In her sophomore year in 2002, that changes when she signs up for the Lubbock Youth Commission. Once her fight against
abstinence only education begins, her life and the documentary come together, after noticing the epidemic of teen pregnancy in this small conservative and Christian city. While to some, only advocating to teenagers that they just not have sex without mentioning birth control may make sense, in reality it does not work at all well with peer pressure, boredom, drinking, and, most importantly, hormones being a large part of teenagers' lives. So, the religious leaders are just left with a certain amount of smugness in thinking they are right, praying that everything will work out. This leads Shelby to question her religious beliefs while her conservative parents surprisingly stand behind her. But I am left wondering how much abuse she might have taken from her classmates since kids have always had a tendency to be cruel towards anybody who might be different. And it might seem simplistic but her parents have a point when they say she has a thing for underdogs.(I do, too, which not only informs my political beliefs but also which sports teams I root for.) As time goes on, Shelby forms a dichotomy with Corey Daniels, her rival in the commission. He ends up taking the stance of the politician in seeking power while she is the activist seeking to help other people, proving that you can never be too young to start down this path.
April 1, 2010
