Winning by cheating is not winning at all

Against all odds and common sense, it really seems to mean a lot to some people to hold titles such as "Homecoming Queen." 

Sure, when you're 16, 17, whatever, a large part of your self-image comes from being so highly regarded as a local deity. It's understandable for people of that age, and if the competition is fair and open to all, it's all right.

But there is a reason why parents - or someone - should keep eyes on their children as they compete in these things. Suppose the desire to be the Queen is so overriding that it blinds a teen to what's right? That's when you need a responsible adult to provide direction.

Emily Rose Grover, down in Florida, needed some guidance a couple of years ago, and she got it - but in the wrong direction. She was running for HQ at Tate High, in an election where the other kids voted on their computers, and now the state is charging Emily Rose with felonies as an adult.  Also charged is the person who should have been guiding her toward more wholesome ways of competition, her mother, Laura Carroll, former assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School.

It's staggering that people who are paid to educate can be involved in scandals like this, and in fact, Ms Carroll's job led to the whole scheme, because the allegation is that old Emily Rose used her mom's password to get into the school computer network and rack up votes for herself. She got enough votes to win...for the time being.

Grover and Carroll stand accused by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with one count each of felony offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices; felony unlawful use of a two-way communications device, felony criminal use of personally identifiable information, and conspiracy to commit these offenses.

Mother (l) and daughter

They have both bonded out, and are at home reading Glamour magazine while awaiting trial.

The computer network is called FOCUS and it's the student information system for the Escambia County School District. District officials called the law when they noticed that hundreds of student accounts had been breached. The presidential campaign of 2020 was not the only closely-watched contest down there in the Fla panhandle. The vote for Tate High School’s Homecoming Court seemed a bit shady, what with 117 votes coming in from the same IP address within a short period of time.  It took cops about 5 minutes to link Carroll's cellphone to this, and that included 3 minutes for coffee. 

Part of the school system's computer setup is an app called Election Runner, for such things as homecoming court elections. The people at Election Runner notified the police of over 100 questionable votes, and an ethics complaint, about the election that Grover "won," but didn't.

Carroll was expelled from Tate High over all this, and even though her mother protested, the expulsion was upheld.

So, nothing to do until the trial. But this mom and daughter, like the rest of us, have plenty of time to wonder how it can be so important to be the homecoming queen that it's worth all this trouble. And could Grover have been comfortable wearing the vaunted crown, knowing she "won" it by illegitimate methods?

Even more troubling - how many students (and teachers!) did Carroll come in contact with over the years, exposing them to her deficient sense of right and wrong?