by Chloe DeFrancesco

In the interest of conserving energy resources, DST was implemented in the U.S. in March of 1918. It was created to save fuel and power during World War 1 – the government wanted better use of daylight. 

So how did they do it? I don’t think men and women in the government have the power to control and bend time, at least not yet. Time was sort of just there when we got here, it’s something that was always there but we learned to track and construct a system out of it. The government can’t change time itself so they changed part of the system. They set clocks forward by one hour in late winter/early spring. 

This year, Daylight Savings Time began on March 12 and ends on Nov. 5. On the last day of DST in November, clocks will fall back one hour to standard time. 

We need to ask ourselves, does DST make sense? Why are some people opposed to DST? Well, we lose an hour of sleep and that comes with consequences. If we increase the amount of time we spend in the sun and decrease the amount of time we sleep, we may be exposed to more health risks. Sure, one hour doesn’t seem like a long time, but multiply that by how many days there are from March to November. This extra daylight hour delays the brain from releasing melatonin, which promotes exhaustion. When melatonin is delayed, it causes us to sleep less. Some researchers believe that there are real health risks associated with DST. For example, studies show that during DST there is an increase in heart disease by 24%, car accidents by 6%, and strokes by 8% (https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/daylight-savings-time-your-health).

I don’t think DST necessarily had the positive impacts the government thought it would, and now the negative impacts and effects are coming to light.  Maybe it’s time to end DST – what do you think?