Shelby & Bertie

At first glance Shelby Knox and Bertie Ahern would appear to have nothing in common. To make some tenuous connection between the two would be daft and indeed the only reason I mention them is that both have registered on my radar during the past seven days.

Ms.Knox is a precocious young lady who hails from Lubbock, Texas. Before her star came into ascendance the city was best known as the home of rock n' roll legend Buddy Holly. Shelby has helped change perceptions of her former home by bringing an important issue to attention - sex education.

Fed up with the outdated teaching methods which preach abstinence over safe sex a teenage Shelby decided to do something about it. She joined a youth movement which gave people her age a say in local government affairs. On her side were alarming statistics revealing Lubbock as having one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country. Clearly the curriculum mantra wasn't working.

On the flipside was Shelby's conservative upbringing and southern Baptist religious views. In a rite du passage story the teenager battles the system and has to confront her family and pastor with her desire to buck the established trend. Her efforts were caught on camera and turned into an award winning documentary entitled 'The Education of Shelby Knox.'

Check out the trailer on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULyq-9SMFH8

This was back in 2005 when Shelby was still in high school. A couple of Sundance Film Festival awards later and Shelby has just graduated with a degree in Political Science from the University of Texas right here in Austin. Currently she works full time as a speaker and organiser with progressive organisations to promote sex education, women's rights and youth empowerment. Last month she was invited to address the House Committee on oversight and reform on the effectiveness or lack of it of the abstinence only programs.

May I take this moment to remind you that Ms.Knox is but only 21 years old. Yes. 21.

With such an impressive CV you might expect Shelby to have an ego the size of Greenland. Not a bit of it. Having heard all about her meteoric rise I must admit to feeling a tad daunted when I met Shelby last week.

She's passionate about her views without forcing the issue and broadcasts her support for Hillary Clinton minus the accompanying rhetoric. So far the school sex education system remains unchanged and Shelby has encountered staunch resistance from conservative Christians better known as the 'Bible Belt.' Her crusade for proper sex-ed continues.

Currently Shelby lives in New York city and as she puts it with "an older patron who asks me to look after her diabetic cat." I'll let you in on a secret that "older patron" is none other than 60's feminist icon (and hero to many journalism students) Gloria Steinem though Shelby would be far too modest to name drop. More important to her is ensuring teenagers deserve better than the "if you have sex before marriage you are a dirty toothbrush" diatribe.

It would be easy to imagine Shelby with all she has achieved to, as we say back home, "have her head up her arse." Seeing her nervous reaction to her appearance on 'Jon Stewart's Daily Show,' her delight with her new shorter hairstyle to her enthusiasm to hopefully explore Europe in the future reminded me that she is just like any girl her age.

Her appearance on the Daily Show can be seen at: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=167331&title=the-global-war-in-your-pants

***********************************************************************************************

So I couldn't reach the end of the column without giving a mention to our now former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The Dubliner was Stateside to address Congress with the words "Ireland is now at peace" last week. His appearance here barely raised a blip in the American news media which as I have come to discover is very insular.

Bertie made his announcement to step down just as I boarded the plane to the U.S. Typical, the biggest news story of the year happens just as this hack decides to skip the country. Legally I may add.

Drumcondra's most famous native was of course a political protégé by the age of 17 when he hung election posters on lampposts outside his local pub 'Fagan's.'

By 25 he was an elected T.D.

Maybe he and Shelby do have something in common after all...