Permanent Daylight Saving Time Would Mean Dark Mornings For Lubbock Kids

None of this matters to me, but it might matter to those of you with kids...or with circadian rhythms.

Did you know your body is programmed to wake up with the sun and go to sleep when it’s dark? I know this feels like a “no derp” moment, but that’s what we’re facing as a country.

None of this matters to me. I get up at 2 a.m. and go to bed at 7 p.m. I don’t get to live with the benefit of the sun, but if you do, you may be about to get a rude awakening.

I blame all of this on the laziness of the general populace and the general lack of any real answers to the issues we all face these days. Oh, and we're not even making the best choice, because experts say it would be better to keep standard time if we're sticking with one.

What Permanent Daylight Saving Time Would Mean in Lubbock

So let’s get to it. The U.S. House has passed a bill to keep daylight saving time in effect permanently. No more changing the clocks again. It still has to get through the Senate and be signed into law, but the idea is very much alive.

Again, this benefits me, but you’re probably not going to like it, especially if you have kids.

Imagine your kids still being in the dark in December and January until around 8:50 in the morning here in Lubbock. Our latest winter sunrise is currently around 7:52 a.m. Permanent daylight saving time would push that to around 8:52 a.m.

Lubbock ISD elementary schools start at 7:45 a.m. That means elementary students could already be in class for more than an hour before the sun comes up. Middle school starts at 8:20 a.m., so those students would also be arriving and starting school in the dark.

That doesn’t even count the time spent walking to school, waiting for buses or crossing busy Lubbock streets.

For a state that cares about kids, we seem to have no problem with the idea of letting them mill around in the dark or walk through crosswalks when it’s pitch black outside.

Some people say, “Adjustments will be made.”

So, here’s a question for you. Will adjustments be made at your job or your household if the school hours change? Will your boss let you come in later? Will daycare change its hours? Will sports practices, bus routes and everything else move too?

And how are you going to like getting up at 6 a.m. when your body is telling you it’s 5 a.m. and there are still nearly three hours until sunrise?

Your body doesn’t care what Congress says the clock should read. Morning sunlight is one of the things that tells your brain it’s time to wake up. Permanent daylight saving time means less morning light during the darkest part of the year.

The laziness of folks who rarely even have to adjust their clocks themselves got us here after having a smart solution for so long. Most of our phones, computers and appliances change automatically now, but somehow this has become a giant problem that Congress must solve.

Oh, and enjoy those electric bills, because you’ll be out from under the covers longer in your cold, dark house. We may gain some evening sunlight, but we’re not creating any additional daylight. We’re just moving it from one end of the day to the other.

I don’t suppose we can do anything about this nonsense in Lubbock by ourselves, but if it becomes law, I promise this is a decision we’ll all regret at some point.

Especially when your kid is standing at a bus stop in the dark at 7:15 in the morning, and the sun won’t be up for another hour and a half.