You awaken to your analog alarm buzzing on a cozy autumn morning. In your mind, you mentally restart yourself to get ready for the activities you had planned for such a peaceful Sunday. However, as you reach for your phone, the screen flashes a time you do not recognize. Realization hits: Daylight Savings has begun. You fall onto your bed in a mixture of horror and excitement, knowing today will be quite different from days prior.
To the modern population, daylight saving time seems arbitrary. Twice on seemingly random days of November and March, we suddenly change our position in time, shifting around the hours like some sort of fourth-dimensional being. Why is that? According to USAFacts, a website documenting a variety of information about the United States, daylight saving time was originally created to conserve the rapidly decreasing resources and to extend the workday. During World War 1, the mobilization of factories caused excessive usage of materials, as there weren’t many to begin with. However, in 1966, the Uniform Time Act was established, reforming the original system and creating the cycle we have today.
In modern times, without the worry of needing lighting to work as much as possible, why keep Daylight Savings? Supporters claim that Daylight Saving Times contribute to more daylight time, which reduces accidents on the road. According to Britannica, an archive of various known information, “Longer daylight hours make driving safer, lowers car accident rates, and lowers the risk of pedestrians being hit by a car.” Since the daylight lasts longer, accidents are less likely to happen due to visibility, and crime is less likely to happen due to increased lighting. Furthermore, supporters also claim that increased daylight encourages after-work shopping and more active lifestyles, which boosts the economy.
However, opponents claim that Daylight Savings Time is harmful to people’s well-being. According to Britannica, the sudden change in sleep patterns, even by one hour, is harmful to people’s natural circadian rhythm. Britannica had stated, “One study found that the risk of a heart attack increases 10% the Monday and Tuesday following the spring time change.” This establishes the impact of shifting time around on the human body. Opponents also state Daylight Savings decreases productivity due to the fact that the human internal clock is incapable of adapting to Daylight Savings, and just general unproductivity due to being generally tired.
In the end, Daylight Savings seems unnecessary. In exchange for one small hour of economy boosting, we risk actual human impact. Even though increased daylight will decrease crime, those deaths may just transfer to casualties from adapting to the new time. I believe it is time we reunite time back into one cycle, rather than two distinct, arbitrary cycles.
