Sex, Drugs, and Illiteracy — What He Saw in Chicago Schools (IFS #493)
Geno Young joins Dave Smith to reveal why he wrote Sex, Drugs and Illiteracy: The Death of Education in America and why he believes the crisis in government schools is not isolated, not accidental, and not just a Chicago problem.
Young, a South Side Chicago musician, educator, and social commentator, pulls back the curtain on what he witnessed while subbing in multiple Southland high schools, including Hillcrest, Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Thornridge, Thornwood, and Thornton. He describes classrooms where discipline has collapsed, administrators look the other way, and students are exposed to behavior so extreme that it left him stunned. One of the book’s core warnings is that children’s minds are being shaped and corrupted long before anyone notices, and that schools are too often powerless, unwilling, or complicit.
Dave and Geno also break down the culture surrounding TikTok, social media, and graphic sex education, along with the growing disconnect between what parents think is happening and what students are actually seeing and doing.
| Jenna Smith | 
September 15, 2026 11:26 AM
