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In Rutherford County, Tennessee, a schoolboard meeting was held to discuss the use of facemasks in schools to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. A video from this meeting is going viral on Twitter with over two million views.
Grady Knox, a student in the Rutherford County school district, spoke from the heart in his public comment during the board's meeting. Knox is in favor of the mask mandate.
He started by sharing he does not want to bring COVID home to his family and his surviving grandparents who are at a higher risk than he is.
Knox continued:
"This time last year, my grandmother, who was a former teacher at the Rutherford County school system died of COVID because someone wasn't wearing a mask."
He was immediately interrupted by laughing and heckling from adult attendees.
Murfreesboro, Tennessee: \n\nThe two women behind this young man \u2014 laughing at him erring on the side of caution makes me super sad\u2026pic.twitter.com/WaANNVsM6O— Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc (@Rex Chapman\ud83c\udfc7\ud83c\udffc) 1631069793
Two women could be seen sitting behind him, unmasked, snickering to themselves. They held signs that said "Let our kids smile."
Knox tried to continue his speech but was repeatedly interrupted. Someone was heard yelling "Shut up."
The schoolboard chairman stepped in.
"Hey guys, we're here to act professional."
Eventually, Knox was given the chance to finish.
"This is a completely avoidable issue and by not wearing masks in schools, it's irresponsible."
"We're killing people."
"This is not something that we should be doing for the education of our students."
Knox—who attends Central Magnet School—was in disbelief over what happened.
He told News 4 Nashville:
"It was complete insanity from my perspective."
"If they laugh at me about a personal story about my grandmother, that's just disrespectful, I feel."
"So, I was like shaken a little bit."
Schoolboard member Claire Maxwell was feeling similarly. She claimed it was not a reflection of Rutherford County.
Maxwell said:
"We all wholeheartedly, all seven of us, were ashamed about what happened and we want to make sure nothing like that ever happens again."
Twitter is fuming over the behavior of these adults, but also praising the bravery and strength of our youth today.
I hope that young man knows there are plenty of people who respect and admire him for sharing his story. That took courage. For those women, flip it and reverse it.— Whit Honea (@Whit Honea) 1631073435
"Let Our Kids Smile" is such a stupid argument. My kid wears her mask at school and she is always smiling— Val Santos (@Val Santos) 1631069962
I couldn\u2019t send my kid to school w a PBJ sandwich bc other kids at the school might have peanut allergy. We used to care about the health of others children not that long ago. Now\u2014 can\u2019t even wear a simple face cover when so many more affected and health if others at stake.— DarleneNP \ud83d\udc1b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Are we there yet? Why NOT? (@DarleneNP \ud83d\udc1b\ud83e\udd8b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Are we there yet? Why NOT?) 1631072206
Exactly. Laughed when he said his grandmother, who was a teacher, died from Covid.— MsFergie (@MsFergie) 1631102888
We\u2019ve become a country where KIDS have to lobby for their own lives and the lives of their family members because adults lobby against those lives. My God! Let that sink in!— Judy Routhier (@Judy Routhier) 1631071338
That boy is an absolute hero. He wasn't just tweeting this or talking to like-minded friends or family. He walked into a lion's den deliberately and fearlessly simply to make sure truth got a turn at the mike.— Joel Schwartzberg (@Joel Schwartzberg) 1631070566
These kids really stepped up during the pandemic. It\u2019s amazing how much more they get it than these adults. We\u2019ve really asked a lot of them to be the moral torch bearers right now but they\u2019ve risen to the task.— Bob Lawblog (@Bob Lawblog) 1631070123
My daughter has missed out on so much, but has understood & taken it better than I would have at her age. But she is starting to get really angry because people not masking or vaxing are causing her to lose out on more. It\u2019s beyond selfish to not wear the damn mask & get vaxed.pic.twitter.com/mEK5JYtgtS— Heather McDowell Francis (@Heather McDowell Francis) 1631070340
It doesn\u2019t make me sad it makes me angry— bw (@bw) 1631069917
My 8th grader has never once complained about his mask and he wears it non stop all day long. I know it is not easy for all kids but they adapt much better and are more considerate than their Qarents.— Rt1971\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udd49\ud83e\udd14 \u26af (@Rt1971\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udd49\ud83e\udd14 \u26af) 1631070421
The lack of empathy\u2026— \u00c9rika Ortega Sanoja (@\u00c9rika Ortega Sanoja) 1631102589
Knox hopes his message still got across.
"I hope that they can see that there's people like me that want to see change and look past all of the hecklers."
"As long as I can get my message across, I don't really think it matters what the crowd thinks of me. Overall, they're not the ones making the decisions for the school."
The schoolboard said they are going to make a formal statement about what happened at their Thursday meeting.