First introduced in 1916 to save energy, 108 years later we still move our clocks one hour forward every year, and fall back somewhere in November. Daylight savings time is highly debated whether or not we still need it or not. In 2022, the Senate passed the Sunshine protection act making Daylight savings permanent, but it was rejected by the House. If this topic is so highly debated then what’s both sides of the story?
Pros of DST:
Allows longer time outside with the sun out.
It promotes a more active lifestyle allowing people to do more outdoor activities.
Saves energy because the sun is out for longer periods of time.
Sunset and sunrises are later than earlier.
Cons of DST:
It changes the sleep because we move forward an hour.
Causes health problems with an increase of headaches after the change.
Disrupts farming schedules for farmers and livestocks.
Adjusting clocks to move forward costs a lot of money.
I interviewed two students and asked their opinion and stance on this debate
“Do you think Daylight Saving time is beneficial to us?”
Student 1: “I don’t think so. I hate Daylight Savings because it’s quite annoying having to change clocks forward and it messes up my sleep schedule. They should allow us to pick if we want to have daylight saving on our devices or not.”
Student 2: “Yea, I think so to be honest. I understand why we have Daylight savings. I kind of like daylight savings because of the extra time that the sun is out. It’s better when the sun is still up around 6 then it being night time at 6.”
“If you were able to replace Daylight savings time would you do so?”
Student 1: “Oh definitely, maybe with an extra month in our calendar, but I’m not sure though. But it needs to go, not very useful if you ask me.”
Student 2: “I’m not sure, I might.”