KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For nearly two hours of Monday's Knox County Commission meeting, people took to the podium to discuss Agenda Number 45. It stirred up a debate amongst community members and commissioners.
High school students pioneered it. Despite being under the voting age, these students are more informed than most. They served on the 2023 cohort of the Knox County Junior Commission.
Chairwoman Courtney Durrett said the program was valuable for these high school students.
"These group of high school students, they are really with it. They are smart, they are on top of current issues. And they are very well-spoken, and I am so proud of what they have accomplished and what they will accomplish in the future," Durett said.
The program gives each student extensive insight into the ins and outs of local government.
"I think the Junior Commissioner program really gave me an avenue for this, for civic engagement. I've always loved to be involved in government politics. But this program really provided the connections. It was interesting to see sort of the behind-the-scenes of how this works," said Caroline Scoonover, who participated in the program.
She is a junior at West High School. She is also the former Junior Commissioner from District 1. She is one of the students who worked on the resolution.
"With our county commission, we just wanted to make a statement. We wanted to take a stand as a body. We support Governor Lee in his executive order, and we want common-sense gun solutions," she said.
She wasn't alone. Ella Parker (At-Large, Seat 10), Anand Patel (District 5), Gabriela Sánchez Benítez (District 2), and Dain Shelton (District 3) joined her as well.
The resolution urged the state legislature to support Governor Bill Lee in his executive order. Furthermore, the resolution urged lawmakers to close the background check loophole to ensure a background check for every single gun sale in Tennessee. The resolution also asks for an "Extreme Risk Law," which would allow authorities to temporarily remove weapons from those who pose a threat to themselves or others.
Commissioners Dasha Lundy and Courtney Durrett sponsored the resolution.
"For me to actually have a resolution sponsored by the commission, and I'm getting to speak in front of the commission on behalf of our own resolution. That is mind-blowing," said Dain Shelton, one of the former junior commissioners.
Both Shelton and Scoonover took the stand during a public forum to further back up the resolution. Shelton shared how unsafe children feel at school. Schoonover turned to statistics that prove gun violence is the leading cause of death among children and teens.
"We don't want to water down our message. We don't want to just say we're taking steps to take action, we want to take action as directly as possible," Scoonover said.
But, their proposition led to opposition. Several people at a public forum voiced their concerns over the governor's executive order. Then, Republican commissioners followed suit.
"I think hearing for both sides of every issue is always crucial. But it's also it's hard when you've kind of gone through this process, rallied young people to come out to these meetings and speak at these meetings. It's hard to see," Scoonover said.
Commissioners sided with party lines, and the resolution failed. Scoonover said it is not the end of their fight.
"We're not done. We're not talking about it. We're not done protesting and fighting," she said.
Shelton also pointed out the fact that they did accomplish something. High school students wrote a resolution, garnered sponsors in commission, and initiated a topical debate.
"A lot of people like to talk down to kids or think that they're lesser than others just because they're children, but we still have a voice. We are still people. We're still citizens, human beings," Shelton said. "It's a step forward that we were able to get it on the agenda and speak on it."
Chairwoman Durrett agreed.
"I'm just so proud of them, really getting involved in making their voices heard, not only to learning through the junior commission program, which I feel I'm so thankful that was started this year. But also, that they're carrying what they have learned on to something to bring something forward that definitely affects them," she said.
The 2024 Junior Commissioner program will open applications in the fall of 2023 for its second wave of future leaders.