Three Sheltered Girls

Evolution and Creationism aren't necessarily at odds, but for many young Christians, that's how it feels. In this episode, the girls talk about their experiences surrounding evolution, whether learning about it sparked a crises of faith or not, and how their beliefs on the topic have changed throughout the years.  

From academics to religion and diversity, where we go to school plays a huge role in our upbringing. In this episode, Ashley guides the girls through the conversation of whether private schools are preferable to public. Are private schools really academically superior? Do Christian private schools prepare young people for the diversity of beliefs, personalities, and faces that they'll encounter in college and the workplace? Is spiking a girl's soda with bleach really cause for concern? The girls consider all these questions, and more. 

Our friendships affect how we see ourselves and how we understand the world around us, but they don't happen in a vacuum. In this episode, the girls talk friendship, specifically how their sheltered upbringings affected their friendships outside the church, and how those friends pushed back on their preconceptions.

You've probably never heard a man called immodest, and if you have, whoever said it was probably joking. That's because for much of the word's history, its use has been closely aligned with how women dress. A lot of the Christian parenting advice surrounding modesty aims to protect daughters. But is modesty really the best way to guard young women from unwanted sexual attention? The girls unpack this question as they consider how they want to approach the topic with their own children some day.

Who wrote "My Heart Will Go On?" Can you name a song by TLC? Jessica and Sarah can't. Why? Because their parents only allowed them to listen to sacred music (music composed or performed for religious use), not secular music (non-religious music). In this episode, the girls reflect on how their parents' choices to censor or not censor their music affected their adolescence, the fears underlying their parents' choices, and how they'll guide their future children's relationship with music.

How did you learn about sex? From your parents, friends, pornography, or a required middle school course? Perhaps you had to figure it out for yourself while in a romantic relationship. In this episode, Sarah leads Jessica and Ashley through their memories of sex and shares how experts recommend teaching young children about their bodies. They also discuss their decisions to wait until marriage, or not, and how they hope to approach topics like virginity with their own children some day.

From the minute J. K. Rowling released Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone in the United States, fans were lining up eager to read. But some parents weren't so eager to let their children read stories about a young wizard's education in witchcraft and wizardry. In this episode, Jessica, Ashley, and Sarah explore the roots of their parents' anxieties surrounding the Potter books before tackling larger questions about how families decide what their children read -- or don't read.

In this introductory episode, Sarah, Jessica, and Ashley share a little bit about their backgrounds and how they came up with the idea for Three Sheltered Girls.