Hands In The Cookie Jar

One of the guilty pleasures of being a child is the exercise of trying to do something you are not supposed to do.  A parent may have given an instruction that was just too enticing to obey.  You may have been told not to have friends over when they were away.  You may have to wait until after you have eaten your vegetables to have a sweet for dessert.  Every now and then, the impatience of youth will try to secretly, sneakily have a cookie from the cookie jar before the meal.  The look on the face of the child who has been caught with one hand in the jar and crumbs all around their mouth etches a memory in the mind of the culprit and the captor.  Hands in the cookie jar create a memory for a child and an adult.

The quaint memory of that child’s act and the cuteness of the moment do not translate well when adults are involved. The training ground of the home for a child proves that there are consequences for behavior. When adults break the rules, the effects are worse, and the consequences have a lasting impact on other people’s lives. 

In the home, we are taught many things that help us function effectively in society.  When we are taught to be respectful, kind, appreciative, courteous, and law-abiding citizens in the house, it usually translates to being rewarded in life. When these behaviors are not expressed it creates an atmosphere of distrust, conflict and chaos.  A remedy for these types of situations exists and should be exercised for the good of the offender and the offended.

The recent involvement by the superintendent’s office of the Houston County Board of Education with the Board of Elections is reflective of kids with their hands in the cookie jar.  According to the county attorney, there was a request to the elections board from the school board’s office that caused the election board to mistakenly take action against a candidate.  Fortunately, the elections board quickly reversed that decision under the advisement of the county attorney in a public hearing and provided an explanation for why they took the actions that they did.  Meanwhile, there has been silence from the Board of Education on this issue.  

This being such a public spectacle of conduct that should not have happened, certainly demands that there should be a resolution that is equally public.  In the public comments of the most recent HCBE meeting, Pastor Josh Kirvin expressed that there should be an investigation and explanation about who authorized these actions, if this is HCBE policy and if there will be someone held accountable so the public can maintain confidence in the elected and appointed persons at the central office.  

When a child gets away with sneaking cookies out of a cookie jar, they become adults who do not believe that the rules of society apply to them. When a negative behavior goes on without correction, people begin to think it must be okay.  Can doing the wrong thing be the right thing? In a place where the rights of the people matter, there are rules for us to abide by in order for us to have a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty.