Would you rather have permanent daylight saving time or permanent standard time? This is a question Americans ponder each year because of its impact on everyday life. Daylight saving time is when you add an hour of daylight in the warmer months starting in March and then lose an hour of daylight in the colder months starting in November. According to the National Library of Medicine, approximately 75% of Americans favor ending the twice-yearly shift to and from DST.
My family and I have a routine that we follow in our everyday lives, from getting up early in the morning for work and school to spending time together in the evening.
Daylight saving time interferes with our circadian rhythms, causing everyday rituals to fall apart. DST could impact your sleep cycle, cause mental health issues—including severe depression—and reduce overall productivity.
Circadian rhythms are also a major component of the human body’s reaction to DST. They are internal cycles that last about 24 hours, controlled by the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus. They help regulate various functions like our hormone levels, digestion, and body temperature in response to the amount of light in the climate. These effects play a crucial role in influencing our physical, mental and behavioral states, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
People spend around 5% of their time outdoors worldwide and even though more daylight used to be helpful by allowing more time in their day to get things done or stay out with friends and family, with the increased use of the internet, the majority of people do not need the extra hour of daylight in the morning added during DST. The majority of people can do their shopping online for food, clothes and toiletries that don’t require them to have to leave the house.
DST is most likely to cause sleep loss and social jet lag among teenagers and young adults, who are most vulnerable to delayed clock timings. When losing an hour of sunlight in the afternoon, people are more likely to be tired, which makes it harder to get up in the morning and go about their day.
In contrast, having less sun in the afternoon can be very unsafe due to the dangers of speeding cars and safety risks, especially for children who have activities or go out at night. When sunlight is pushed back an hour, people who are out are usually not careful about what they are doing because they assume no one else is out; therefore, it creates a higher risk of getting injured or injuring someone else.
One commonly cited benefit of daylight saving time is the added daylight in the late afternoon and evening hours in the summer, which gives people more opportunities to exercise, shop, dine outdoors and participate in recreational activities. While this extended daylight can be convenient, it also has significant drawbacks.
Prolonged exposure to light later in the evening disrupts the body’s internal clock by postponing the release of melatonin — the hormone responsible for signaling that it is time to sleep. As a result, people tend to fall asleep later and often do not end up getting enough rest overall.
This issue is especially concerning for teenagers. During puberty, natural biological changes already cause melatonin to be released later at night, shifting adolescents’ sleep schedules forward. Because teens’ bodies are biologically inclined to stay awake longer, the additional evening light during daylight saving time intensifies this delay, increasing the likelihood of sleep deprivation.
These puberty-related changes in sleep patterns can persist well into a person’s twenties, making young people particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of extended evening daylight.
When those circadian rhythms are disrupted by light or morning activities like work and school, it can lead to fatigue and organic functioning issues. Harvard Health Publishing wrote that a lack of morning sunlight can lead to lower amounts of serotonin, which is the hormone that enhances your mood.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: If DST causes so many problems, then why was it created? Most people believe the idea was created by Benjamin Franklin and for farmers to have more hours of daylight to work in the field. However, studies have shown that DST was introduced to save energy. It started during World War I in Germany in 1916. Later, the concept was reestablished during World War II, when people debated if there should be DST or standard time.
In 1966, Congress enacted the Uniform Time Act to create a consistent, nationwide system for observing daylight saving time, establishing uniform dates for when it would begin and end each year. However, not every state chose to participate. Hawaii and Arizona decided to remain on standard time throughout the entire year instead of adopting the seasonal clock changes. Arizona’s intense heat makes earlier sunsets welcome for relief from the heat, whereas Hawaii’s location near the equator provides steady daylight throughout the year, making the practice of “springing forward” unnecessary. Since Daylight Saving Time was created to save energy, the time change just isn’t a requirement or an important thing to have. This just goes to prove how DST creates unnecessary adverse effects because this evidence suggests the people are perfectly capable without DST and don’t benefit from it,
With so many negative effects from Daylight Saving Time, consistent standard time would be more beneficial for us because it causes more harm and confusion than stability. DST can cause major mental and physical health problems that prevent you from going about your everyday routine. While the change of darkness and light may seem nice to some, it is unsafe and outdated in reality.
