By Staff
As we all know, the practice of time change takes place twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, and disrupts the entirety of citizens in the U.S. It can be concluded that this practice does nothing but tamper with everyday life. Not only are clocks incorrect and sleep schedules shifted, but the ambiance of the everyday is significantly altered.
Daylight savings was initially set into place in 1918 following Germany’s inhalation of the time change in 1916 during wartime as a way to save energy. In 1919 daylight savings was repealed in America, but after reinstituted in 1942 during the second world war again as another way to conserve energy during war time. Once initiated for the second time, individual states jumped back and forth between standard and daylight savings time causing chaos on the clock for about 20 years.
This confusion led to Congress passing the Uniform Time Act in 1966 which included all states except Hawaii and Arizona. This Act was widely supported by the public, up until the first winter time changes when support declined drastically. With all this said, the time change that takes place twice a year is generally not supported by Americans.
The implications time changes have on people’s schedules is the main reason for the discourse around the practice. While the extra hour of sleep during the fall is nice for the time being, what do we have to sacrifice for it? The entire routine of everyday life is shifted, whether we realize it or not, we are used to doing certain things at certain times. Getting out of school and having the sun begin to set an hour later disrupts our perception of time, and same goes for the time shift during spring. When the sun isn’t setting until 9 o’clock we end up staying up much later and getting less sleep with the perception that we have more time in the day.
The impacts time changes have on sleep schedules can have serious implications as well. Sleep is a vital part of our life and affects every aspect of it. Too little sleep can cause issues with mental and physical health, making it more likely to get sick and the disruption and inconsistency of sleep schedules can have similar effects.
Overall daylight savings and time changes were something implemented decades ago when different societal and cultural events were taking place. In modern days time changes are unnecessary and inconvenient. They do nothing but cause issues within everyday life and implicate confusion in everyone.
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