''The Education of Shelby Knox'' is 2005 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

that tells the coming-of-age story of public speaker and feminist Shelby Knox, a teenager who joins a campaign for comprehensive

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

in the high schools of

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

.
Shelby Knox's website ''TEOSK'' was an official selection of the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in 2005 and aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

’ '' P.O.V.'' series that same year. It was directed and produced by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt.

Overview

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

has some of the highest

teen pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20. Worldwide, pregnancy complications are the leading cause of death for women and girls 15 to 19 years old. The definition of teenage pregnancy i ...

and STD rates in the nation, the "solution" to which is a strict

abstinence-only sex education Abstinence-only sex education (also known as sexual risk avoidance education) is a form of sex education that teaches not having sex outside of marriage. It often excludes other types of sexual and reproductive health education, such as birth co ...

curriculum in the public schools and a conservative preacher who urges kids to pledge abstinence until marriage. Shelby Knox is a deeply religious

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

teenager who joins the Lubbock Youth Commission, a group of high school students representing a youth voice in city government. When the teens confront Lubbock's sexual health crisis and campaign for comprehensive sex education, Knox throws herself into the battle with missionary fervor, struggling to reconcile her newfound political beliefs with her conservative religious views. When the campaign broadens to include a fight for a gay-straight alliance, Knox must confront her family and pastor in this coming-of-age story.

Awards

''The Education of Shelby Knox'' has received a number of awards: *2005

(Excellence in Cinematography, Documentary Category) *2005

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Film Festival (Audience Award) *2005 Sonoma Valley Film Festival (Jury Prize) *2005 Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Jury Prize, Best Documentary) *2005

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema founded by Nancy Buirski, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo editor of ''The New York Times'' and documentary filmma ...

(Emerging Pictures Audience Award) *

Council on Foundations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

(2005 Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film & Digital Media) *2005 Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival (Audience Award, Best Feature) *2006 The Index on Censorship's Freedom of Expression Film Award (Nominee)

Shelby Knox in the News

The

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Stra ...

' 2006 album ''

Taking the Long Way ''Taking the Long Way'' is the seventh studio album by American country music group Dixie Chicks. Released on May 23, 2006, through Columbia Nashville, it was also the group's last album released under the “Dixie Chicks” name. The album deb ...

'' features a track titled "Lubbock or Leave It", which is based on ''The Education of Shelby Knox''. When the song came out, the group's member Emily Robison told the press: "We'd seen a documentary called ''The Education of Shelby Knox'', which was about a girl ... trying to get Lubbock to teach sex education in the schools. Lubbock has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs in the U.S., so it really showed what happens when you keep that information away from people." Lead singer

Natalie Maines Natalie Louise Maines (born October 14, 1974) is an American musician. She is the lead vocalist for the country band the Chicks. In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace their lead si ...

, who is from Lubbock, subsequently spoke (during a 2006 episode of ''

VH1 Storytellers ''Storytellers'' is a television music series produced by the VH1 network. In each episode, artists perform in front of a (mostly small and intimate) live audience, and tell stories about their music, writing experiences and memories, somewhat ...

'') about watching the film and drawing from her own experiences of living there to write the song. In the 2013 documentary ''How to Lose Your Virginity'', scenes from ''The Education of Shelby Knox'' are featured alongside interviews with Shelby Knox. As of June 2011, Shelby Knox is living in New York City and serving as the Director of Organizing, Women's Rights for Change.org.

References

External links

''P.O.V.'' The Education of Shelby Knox
- PBS' website dedicated to the film
Women Make Movies
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Education Of Shelby Knox, The 2005 films 2005 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about education in the United States Documentary films about sexuality Education in Texas Films set in Texas Films shot in Texas Sex education in the United States Sexuality and society Documentary films about feminism Films about activists History of women in Texas Lubbock, Texas 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films