What to Know
Is there anything cooler than a young person using her voice to try to make change? Seriously, as a parent, if you can teach your child at a young age to not be afraid to speak up and use their voice, especially when something seems blatantly wrong or inappropriate to them, it can be such a valuable tool. A teenager in Tennessee who was called “hot” by a school board member during a meeting, which was recorded in a video streamed on YouTube, used her words in such a valiant way when she attended a Board of Education meeting to let her them know that they let her and their community down.
A teen took the mic to tell them that they let her down.
According to FOX5 Vegas, that shared video from the event, the teenager who was called “hot” by a Tennessee school board member, Keith Ervin, had some strong words to share with the board at a recent meeting.
The meeting where the inappropriate comment took place on April 2, and it was streamed on YouTube. People were shocked to see Ervin put his arm around the teenager who he was sitting next to during the meeting and say, “God, you’re hot. Do you know that? Where do you go to school?”
The teenager came to a recent Board of Education meeting in May and spoke for four minutes. She started out by saying, “To begin, I want to address Ervin’s actions, which were not only unwelcome but sexist and derogatory. I know this, because he has not behaved this way with any of our male members, nor do I think he ever would.”
FOX5 Vegas reported that since the initial incident, there’s been an online petition to remove Keith Ervin, but the board voted to keep him and remarkably he was censured for a second time.
Some people online can’t help but equate what happened here directly to the country’s current leader.
The student was not pleased with the board’s vote and shared during her speech, “The failure to act on the board’s behalf was and is equivalent to his actions, and it has hurt me just as much. Gaining global attention for sexual comments and assault is not the reputation that Washington County deserves. Everyone on this board shares that blame, as does every voter who put you into office.”
Pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it?
A lot of people in the Reddit comments were flabbergasted that this kind of behavior has been tolerated. One person shared, “”God, you’re hot.” Imagine the entitlement he thought he had to say that to a HS student in a public forum. That ain’t his first rodeo.” A Reddit user replied to make a connection to the current political climate. They wrote, “Trump empowering the worst of the worst. Congrats MAGA for giving some people the excuse to be predators with no consequences.”
Another person in the comments shared the same sentiment. “The president of the United States has brought all levels of sexual predators and racists out in the open. And it’s f—— despicable,” they wrote.
A lot of people online admired the teenager’s words and confidence to speak up at this meeting.
There was a very powerful part of her speech that included the words, “Thank you for teaching me that no one will stand up for me besides myself. Thank you for showing this community what you think it means to protect our children.”
There were a few people in the Reddit comments who really connected to that part of the student’s speech. “D—, she laid into them proper. Thank you for teaching me. For teaching me that no one will stand up for me but myself,” they wrote. Another person shared, “All of the thanks she gave out were both genuine and brutal.” We would have to agree!
Another individual on Reddit appreciated how she called out the entire board. “Glad she called out the whole board, as they really ARE cowards. hope she helps impact the next board election there,” they commented.
Someone else in the comments section hopes that the teenager just becomes an even better version of herself after all this. They wrote, “That was a h— of a tongue lashing she gave that whole board. Hopefully this experience just makes her stronger and she builds off of it to gain more confidence. With speaking skills like that she can be just about anything she wants that involves dealing with the public.”
We wholeheartedly agree. With her bravery and eloquent way with words, this teenager is going places!
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