Daylight Saving Time prevents you from catching lighting bugs

For the third year in a row I am writing a column at this time of the year about Daylight Saving Time.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

Why now? Because just a few weeks ago school children were finally waiting at school bus stops with a little daylight.

Then, here comes the middle of March and those youngsters have to wait in the dark. President Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act in 2005 moving daylight time from the last of April to the middle of March. Shame! It took effect in 2007. Was that really necessary and why so early?

Previous to that DST began on the first Sunday in April and extended until the last of October.

Most Americans prefer standard time. That is according to which poll you view. I personally prefer standard time. There are pros and cons to both time opinions.

First of all I hate springing forward. Did you know it can be a health hazard? It takes some people up to six weeks to adjust. As it is now we only have 120 days, or one-third of the year on standard time.

Don’t believe the myths about farmers, or saving electricity or several others. It is probably safer to shop late with DST and also safer to drive. But it is also healthier to not change the time and they now know that there is very little difference in energy savings.

But really, do we need to change our clocks? Sen. Marco Rubio is pushing a bill to make DST the entire year. What? In the winter it wouldn’t get daylight until 8:00 or 8:30. It died in committee last year but he is at it again. Oh well, that is a Floridan for you. I’d like to make him stand out in the dark waiting for a school bus.

The whole idea of daylight time was conceived by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. The DST Act came in 1918. There are 15 states now that observe it the year around. There are some nations that do not change time and it causes confusion around the world.

But here goes the main reason we should have standard time. It gets dark earlier and you can catch lighting bugs. That’s right, lighting bugs.

When I was a child there wasn’t anything but standard time. Many of my favorite memories are playing in the street under the street light after dark.

We would play “kick the can”, “lost trail, Barbarie”, “hide and seek” and a variety of other games that children of this age would never imagine because of that thing, uh, the telephone or i-pad.

But better than that were the front porch gatherings by family and friends. The dark atmosphere was great. We would listen to the older folk tell stories and laugh and laugh and have a good time. Oh, you can do that in daylight too but it is hotter and the atmosphere is not the same.

As it is now with DST by the time it gets dark in the summer it is almost time to go to bed. Children have very little time to experience what we enjoyed the most as youngsters.

But obviously DST is liked by many and those who make the deal are going to keep it that way. It may benefit their golf game or give them more time to mow the grass. I don’t know.

But this I do know. If you care for children standing in the dark waiting for a school bus, you would change the timing of it to the first of April, like it used to be.

Ok. I’m a sore loser. I woke up at 4:30 this morning. I couldn’t go to sleep because I take grandchildren to school and the thought of oversleeping causes me to get very little sleep. I started this adventure three years ago and until then I didn’t realize how it affected the school children. I, like so many others, will adjust but I still don’t like it.

And one other suggestion to the Corbin City Schools. Starting times are so close and the schools are so distant from each other and that makes it hard for parents of different age kids to make the circle. Just a suggestion. And another suggestion. Make the older students go in first. It is harder on the little one to get up in the morning.

There you have it, my third annual gripe about DST. Since our elected leaders in Washington don’t experience the dark and light situation in the same manner as us, I doubt this subject will ever cross their minds, that is except for Rubio. He has a golf game he wants to finish!

One final point about schools. I do not like giving tax money to private schools, $25 million and especially in northern Ky.

But I do understand the dealings that are necessary when you deal in Frankfort.