My oldest son, Nathan has been spending Tuesdays at the Capitol during the legislative session and learning a lot about how our state government is run. And about making a difference. And the media.
Nathan has a few innate characteristics that make him a natural leader. He is logical, he forms his own opinions, and he is not afraid to express them. Well, this week, he was sitting in on a committee meeting discussing a bill about whether Utah should get rid of daylight savings time. He was quite frustrated at some of the comments that were given, including one that we should do it because Arizona does. He decided to stand up and state his opinion on the matter.
One point he made that has been slightly misrepresented was that Utah has a different relationship to the equator than Arizona, and so daylight savings time affects us more than it does them. He also said that just because another state does or doesn't do something isn't a valid enough of a reason for Utah to do the same thing. (This is a proud mother moment. I know he's heard my lectures about not jumping off a cliff because somebody else does. - Okay, it's not really me. He has been logically arguing his points since he was old enough to talk. The first one was when he was 17 months old and we had put him to bed, but his newborn brother was still downstairs with us. He eloquently argued the injustice of the situation by saying 'Baby Downstairs'. Needless to say, he got to come back down.
Anyway, That a 13 year old would stand up and articulate valid reasons for keeping Daylight Savings Time seemed to impress many people, including the committee members who voted down the bill, as well as a reporter from Channel 4 News who was there. Nathan was interviewed by the reporter after the committee meeting. This story made it on early in the 10 o'clock news with teasers about it being played during the earlier news broadcasts.
Nathan also got an education in media today. It was interesting to him to see what they showed and what was cut. Besides the nightly news, Nathan's story made the newspaper and even some blogs. Strangers have commented on both the news broadcast and the newspaper article. Now is where I have to start getting used to seeing my children in the news. And having other people comment on it. I knew it was inevitable. I just didn't think it would be so soon.
Here are a few relevant links:
The news story. Click on the video on the top right.
The Salt Lake Tribune Article
Some person's blog, who also happens to be named Nathan
