Daylight Savings, the New Standard Time?

Children screaming, parents cursing under their breath, and alarms blaring at too early o’clock, why? Because everyone had to set their clocks forward an hour tonight because of ‘standard time’ - that is, unless you forgot and now you’re an hour late for work, taking the kids to school, and you just missed the piping hot donuts coming out of the fryer at Krispy Kreme. The cold ones just aren’t the same. Thankfully, there is a bill in place which seeks to change that, bringing more daylight and less headache; making the tradition of changing the clocks a thing of the past, so long as its opposers do not get the bill overturned.

Daylight savings time was enacted in 1974 by President Richard Nixon in an effort to help farmers maximize their time, energy, and efficiency. Today, however, with modern technology its uses are minimal due to nifty inventions such as hydroponics, aeroponics, and the ability to do year-round crop production. As with everything, though, there are two sides to this argument. Those opposed to the bill argue that we cannot change the patterns of the sun, given that it provides different amounts of light at different times of the year. This would cause early sunrises during Spring and Summer and late ones during Fall - with times ranging from 6:00am to 8:00am. David Prerau, a novelist and ‘time specialist,’ explained “for the saving of that one hour of sleep in March, [you’d be] getting four months of dark mornings and cold mornings in November through March. So that’s why I think the current system is better.” Their argument largely circulates around the increased difficulty of waking up in the mornings for children, and an inability for early morning athletes to perform.

Those in support of the bill, affectionately dubbed the “Sunshine Protection Act” argue that regardless of the ebbs and flows of sunlight, the elimination of standard time would lead to increased sunlight throughout the day. This increase, experts say, leads to a myriad of benefits for everyone, ranging from increased activity levels to better sleep, less car accidents, increased happiness levels, and even economic stimulus. Those against the bill argue that the mornings will be more difficult, but early mornings are largely a difficult time for everyone - with only 10% of Americans stating that they are at their best during the hours of 5:00am and 8:00am - so not only is it something that people are used to, but people have learned to adapt to darker mornings. People have also learned to adapt to an earlier sunset (a byproduct of standard time), but the consequences have been far more dire. During standard time, there is an increase in depressive episodes by over 11% per day. Additionally, car crashes double with every passing day of standard time, and the rate of heart attacks follow a similar trend, with a 25% daily increase during standard time. During daylight savings time, however, these statistics move in the opposite direction. One of the senators who promoted the bill stated, "Getting that extra hour of sunshine into people's lives is essential," as increased vitamin D levels lead to a myriad of benefits for people and for the economy such as fighting disease, a decrease in depression, and (economically) increasing willingness to spend later in the day.

We spoke earlier about dark mornings and how people generally do not like waking up in the morning, but guess what? Increased sunlight throughout the day is proven to cause better sleep and leads to earlier wakeups! People also tend to be more active during daylight savings time. This more active lifestyle has proven to lead to more people walking around their town, spending money at local businesses, staying healthier and propelling the economy due to the extra few hours of daylight allowing people to shop for longer. “In fact, one study found that in New Zealand, trampoline injuries are most common in spring just after the clocks shift forward,” a strange fact, I apologize to those of you who have been hurt due to playing on the trampoline more during daylight savings, but it aids in proving the point: daylight savings leads to a more active lifestyle, which, in turn leads to better sleep, better health, and a better economy.