https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tennessee-teen-talking-grandma-died-225700746.html
NBC News
Tennessee teen talking about grandma who died of Covid heckled by adults
at school board meeting
Image: Grady Knox (WSMV)
Doha Madani
Thu, September 9, 2021, 4:13 PM
A Tennessee teenager who was mocked by adults as he defended masks by
explaining his grandmother died of Covid-19 called the moment “complete
insanity.”
Grady Knox, a junior at Central Magnet School, was mocked and shouted
down while speaking at a Rutherford County School Board meeting Tuesday
night. A clip of the moment made the rounds of social media, showing
adults telling the teenage boy to “shut up” as he gave a personal story
to relay his views in favor of mask mandates.
Knox told the board that he was worried about being infected at school
and bringing the coronavirus home to his grandparents.
Image: Grady Knox (WSMV)
“They’re higher risk than me, so I don’t want to give them Covid,” Knox
said. “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.”
A man in the background could be heard telling Knox to “shut up,” and a
woman in the background appeared to snicker at him, according to video
of the moment.
Knox told NBC affiliate WSMV that he couldn’t believe the incident and
that it was “complete insanity.”
“If they laugh at me about a personal story about my grandmother, that's
just disrespectful I feel,” Knox said. “I was shaken a little bit.”
He added that he hopes those who view the video understand that the
people of Rutherford County are not defined by the adults who heckled him.
“As long as I can get my message across, I don't really think it matters
what the crowd thinks of me,” Knox said. “Overall, they're not the ones
making the decisions for the school.”
The school board addressed the issue during a meeting Thursday night by
Bill Spurlock, the county’s director of schools.
“It was pretty devastating what happened to that young man at this
meeting,” Spurlock. “It’s been all over the news, and I really regret
that the young man was treated the way he was. We owe him an apology.”
A temporary mask mandate that would begin on Sept. 13 and continue until
Oct. 14 was passed by the board in a Thursday night vote. The approved
motion included an ability to terminate the mandate if the county's
positivity rate fell below 10 percent for three consecutive weeks.