July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Time for a free educational boost?
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
It is distressing to witness the ongoing attack on teachers while a major culprit undermining education in Indiana goes unrecognized. That culprit is our incorrect Eastern Time Zone designation. Think about it. Everyone has a biological clock that for millions of years has told our bodies when to wake and when to fall asleep. It dictates human alertness and productivity and is governed by the 24 hour sunlight/darkness schedule. When the school bell rings at 7:30 but the sun doesn’t rise until after 8 o’clock, teachers have a classroom full of sleepy students — something that happens 45 days a year in Indiana’s Eastern Time counties.
While Eastern Standard Time (in winter) puts Hoosiers one hour out of sync with their biological clocks, Eastern Daylight Time (the remaining eight months) puts us two hours out of sync. Eastern’s late sunsets deal another blow to teachers. In Fall and Spring it is still light until 9:00 in the evening. What parent doesn’t struggle to get kids in bed when it’s still light outside? And the reverse struggle occurs every morning when kid’s bodies tell them they should still be asleep.
The battle with student’s biological clocks is a handicap that teachers can’t win. The good news is that there is a simple remedy for Indiana that costs nothing – it’s free. By restoring Indiana to its correct Central Time Zone, one hour of evening sunlight would be shifted back to where it belongs — in the morning. Everyone would benefit — kids, adults, employers, etc. It would return Indiana to the summer sunlight schedule Hoosiers enjoyed when our summers were on “Chicago Time” and kids could once again catch lightening bugs, see the stars, experience campfires, and stay awake for the July 4th fireworks.
More importantly, it would mean that students would travel to school in the safety of sunlight most of the year and they would arrive at school awake and ready to learn. www.hoosiersforcentraltime.com tells about the campaign to restore Central Time to Indiana and how citizens can help.
Sue Dillon
Carmel[[In-content Ad]]
It is distressing to witness the ongoing attack on teachers while a major culprit undermining education in Indiana goes unrecognized. That culprit is our incorrect Eastern Time Zone designation. Think about it. Everyone has a biological clock that for millions of years has told our bodies when to wake and when to fall asleep. It dictates human alertness and productivity and is governed by the 24 hour sunlight/darkness schedule. When the school bell rings at 7:30 but the sun doesn’t rise until after 8 o’clock, teachers have a classroom full of sleepy students — something that happens 45 days a year in Indiana’s Eastern Time counties.
While Eastern Standard Time (in winter) puts Hoosiers one hour out of sync with their biological clocks, Eastern Daylight Time (the remaining eight months) puts us two hours out of sync. Eastern’s late sunsets deal another blow to teachers. In Fall and Spring it is still light until 9:00 in the evening. What parent doesn’t struggle to get kids in bed when it’s still light outside? And the reverse struggle occurs every morning when kid’s bodies tell them they should still be asleep.
The battle with student’s biological clocks is a handicap that teachers can’t win. The good news is that there is a simple remedy for Indiana that costs nothing – it’s free. By restoring Indiana to its correct Central Time Zone, one hour of evening sunlight would be shifted back to where it belongs — in the morning. Everyone would benefit — kids, adults, employers, etc. It would return Indiana to the summer sunlight schedule Hoosiers enjoyed when our summers were on “Chicago Time” and kids could once again catch lightening bugs, see the stars, experience campfires, and stay awake for the July 4th fireworks.
More importantly, it would mean that students would travel to school in the safety of sunlight most of the year and they would arrive at school awake and ready to learn. www.hoosiersforcentraltime.com tells about the campaign to restore Central Time to Indiana and how citizens can help.
Sue Dillon
Carmel[[In-content Ad]]
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