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DAYLIGHT-SAVING TIME ENDS

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Richard Duvigneaud doesn't like the concept of daylight-saving time for several reasons; one being that his "body clock" naturally wakes him up early and he can't do much because it is dark outside.

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: November 3, 2007

SEBRING — Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spring forward, fall back. We all get an extra hour of sleep.

But some folks, like Richard Duvigneaud, would be more pleased if the federal government would just quit fooling around with the time.

"Since you asked, I detest Daylight-Savings Time," said Duvigneaud, of Sebring. "It adds more time to peoples' evenings in summer, where it should stay.

"The extension to daylight-savings time is ridiculous," he said.

Starting in 2007, the federal Energy Policy Act extended DST a month, beginning on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November, instead of the last Sunday in October.

"I am tired of seeing school-aged children standing at the corner in the dark, waiting for a school bus," Duvigneaud said.

"At least it will at least be a little lighter in the morning," said Avon Middle School Principal Dan Johnson. He worries about the children waiting for a school bus.

"The potential is always there," Johnson said. "Especially the little kids."

"I agree, I really wish they would stop with the changing of the time," said daisy22loca, a HighlandsToday.com reader. "It is outdated and serves no real purpose anymore.

"My best friend moved to Indiana, and when she told me that they do not do Daylight Savings Time where she lives, I was jealous. Why can they not do it, but the rest of us have to?" she asked.

Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use DST. Indiana began DST in 2006.

"I have always hated it since I was a child, when parents are trying to get kids on a proper sleep cycle, which is important for growth and schooling," said daisy22loca. "And then the time changes and it is light out and the kids do not want to go to sleep, or the opposite when it is dark by 5:30 p.m., and we struggle to keep the kids awake for another hour or two."

The Other Side

Linda Spurlock of Avon Park prefers all-year DST to Eastern Standard Time.

"Pick a time and stick with it," she suggested. "DST was supposedly for farmers. Now days we use as much electricity, gas and other sources of power in the day as at night, that I believe it is no longer of benefit to change."

So does John D'Amico of Lake Placid. "I'd like to see them keep Daylight Savings Time year round."

"It's nice in the evening to have that extra hour daylight to do a few things in the light instead of it being almost dark by the time you get home from work," said D'Amico, who, during the day, rents tools for Home Depot in Sebring. "Kids would be fine with it too, it gives them an hour outside playing after school instead of watching TV indoors because it's dark."

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