High school junior advocated for school masks at the meeting of his school board.
He claimed that his grandma died of COVID-19 because someone didn't wear a mask, prompting laughter from the crowd.
One school board member stated that they felt "ashamed" at the reactions of the crowd.
10 Things in Politics: Get the latest news in politics and economics Loading... Click Sign up to receive marketing emails and other offers from Insider.
According to an online video, adults laughed at a teenager who shared his experience with COVID-19 at the Rutherford County School Board meeting in Tennessee on Tuesday.
Grady Knox, a teen at Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro was present at the meeting to push for a mandate for a mask at his school, according to local outlet WSMV.
"I am worried about my family. I will bring COVID to my family if I get it. I also talk to my grandparents quite often. Knox spoke into the microphone, stating that they are more at risk than I am so I won't give them COVID.
"This was the time my grandmother, a Rutherford County teacher, died from COVID. Someone wasn't wearing masks," he said. This led to laughter from others in the room.
Knox tried to speak but was interrupted by jeering. One can see a woman behind Knox laughing and shaking her head while another shouts "shut down!"
Knox was encouraged to continue by the school board chairman.
Knox said to WSMV that he was shaken a bit by the laughter. He called it "disrespectful." He said that he could hear the cheers from the crowd but that he couldn't understand why people would respond so strongly to a personal statement like his.
Claire Maxwell, a Rutherford County school board member, told WSMV that the reaction from the crowd made it feel "ashamed".
Insider asked Knox for comment but he did not respond immediately.
This was just the latest incident at a school board meeting that has made national headlines, as districts consider vaccines and masks. A video of a Tennessee school board meeting last month showed anti-mask parents shouting at other parents who support schools being masked.
