With the intention of making the best use of the day’s natural light, daylight savings took action on November 5th, 2017. Clocks were turned back an hour, meaning the morning gets lighter an hour earlier and the evening gets darker an hour earlier. Therefore, the sun rises earlier as well as the sun setting earlier. Is this time shift necessary? Absolutely not.
The clock isn’t just changing time; it’s changing people too. Changing the clock by one hour can have a significant difference on the daily activities of humans. According to a 2014 Rasmussen Report, a minor consequence that occurs is the disruption of the human body clock, along with disturbing the circadian rhythm, consisting of a cycle reminding the human body when to sleep. “I was up when daylight savings happened, and I felt very disorientated. Seeing 2 AM twice on my clock did not feel right,” says senior Maaz Ahmed. When these routines snap out of it, the body can suffer from tiredness. Yes, tiredness is something that everyone can relate to, but this tiredness has the potential to lead to larger problems.
The body gets tired when a small amount of sleep is received. This lack of sleep can potentially lead to unfortunate events. Studies have shown that a lack of sleep links to car accidents, injuries and miscarriages. Not only are there physical aspects, but also mental aspects. The early evening darkness has led a concerning number of people to have depression and suicidal thoughts. Our goal as people should be to create a society focusing on the health and wellbeing of people. Daylight savings does the opposite.
Most parents are strongly against daylight savings. Many kids are involved in a variety of activities, and majority of these activities take place after school hours. With activities getting done later, some students who don’t have the luxury of owning a car or students who live semi-close to their school have to walk home in the dark, expressing concerns for their safety. Kyle Stoddard, a senior, has walked in the dark from quite a few practices. “I used to have to walk home from swim practice and cut through the dark, cold woods. It definitely wasn’t my favorite thing,” he says. Parents and students have enough on their plate already. Daylight savings brings stress, making everyone a mess. .
Me along with 67% of Americans find daylight savings unnecessary. Us humans struggle to adapt to change and care about the safety of the community. Instead of trying to save the daylight, let’s save the preferred unchanged routine humans enjoy.
