Yes, NHS is Worth it.
By Annie Dai (III)
Assistant Forum Editor
Twice a year, the United States turns the hands of its clocks forwards or backwards by an hour in a familiar seasonal ritual. Although many may view daylight saving time negatively due to their lost sliver of sleep, daylight saving has boundless potential to benefit the American people and economy.
Since daylight saving time promotes longer daytime hours, the additional illumination contributes majorly to public safety. More light increases driver visibility, lowering car accident rates and the risk of pedestrians being hit by vehicles.
Some may argue that daylight saving causes an initial spike in traffic accidents. While this is true because people are adjusting to the new time, it is important to remember that daylight saving is a prolonged practice occurring over months. Over time, with consistent evening sunlight promoting improved road safety, the net effect of daylight saving time on traffic accidents becomes overwhelmingly positive.
Research from the National Incident-Based Reporting System, moreover, has shown that after daylight saving time in the spring, robbery rates decreased by an average of 51 percent. It found a substantial drop in other reported crime rates as well, including a 48 percent decrease of attempted murder. Because the effect was most significant during the daylight hour of sunset, which would have been complete darkness without daylight saving time, the benefits were attributed to the extra light rather than other causes.
Along with the safer environment, the supplementary daytime encourages further physical or open-air activities following work or school. Most are deterred from venturing outside after dark, so with the addition of an extra 60 minutes, there is an increased opportunity to step away from the modern-day sedentary lifestyle. For students especially, who spend the majority of their day bound to a classroom desk, daylight saving time can provide incentive to stay outdoors longer, thus fostering healthier lifestyles.
This small change to the clock also has a surprising positive effect on businesses. After a traditional workday, more daylight encourages increased retail activity and sales. Experts say that consumer spending increased during daylight saving time, giving the economy a boost.
The time changes positively impact various industries as well. Analysis on different industries has shown that many benefit from daylight saving time, including transport and utilities, with 6.7 percent of employees working the night shift, manufacturing with 5.7 percent, and wholesale with 5.1 percent. Since daylight saving time turns the clock back, employees are able to receive an added hour’s worth of pay, and employers are able to see increased profit margins.
Daylight saving time helps conserve power, too; a nationwide study conducted by the Department of Energy illustrated a 0.5 percent energy usage decrease across the U.S.. That amount seems miniscule on paper, but in reality equates to 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, enough to power a dishwasher in every U.S. house for more than a week straight.
Numerous people assert that daylight saving time is too inconvenient, and should be replaced with standard time year-round, but this decision would cut evenings short for eight months between March and November. Standard time would make sunrises extremely early throughout spring and summer, while most are still slumbering. The lost sleep time during daylight saving is nothing in comparison to how much sunshine would be wasted while Americans sleep through standard time.
No, We Shouldn’t Have Daylight Saving Time
By Ellie Fung (V)
Contributing Writer
As March approaches, so does that dreaded time of year: the beginning of daylight saving time, when everyone turns their clocks back an hour, supposedly for extra evening sunlight and energy conservation. Daylight saving time, however, is an outdated system dating back to World War I, and comes with a host of negative consequences for all types of people.
Experts have found that a plethora of health consequences accompany daylight saving, notably an increase in heart attacks, fatal car accidents and workplace injuries after the time switch occurs. Many of these consequences are attributed to the lack of sleep due to the lost hour during the daylight savingstime transition.
Charlotte Anderson (V) says, “I do know [for] a lot of people in my family and a lot of my friends, it does mess up their sleep schedule and […] their daily routine because when […] the hours fall back to the winter time, it’s really dark in the morning, so the morning commute can be more treacherous.”
Daylight saving time also disrupts one’s circadian rhythm, or the body’s internal clock. The circadian rhythm is driven by the sun, so shifting the clock forward means artificially altering the amount of light received during the mornings and evenings, making it harder to get up in the morning and more difficult to go to sleep at night.
This can be problematic for people who are already sleep-deprived, like parents of newborns, teenagers who suffer from sleep difficulties during the school week and night shift workers who struggle to sleep during the day.
Another study shows an increase in depressive episodes during the transition back to standard time. Because of these negative effects, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports staying permanently in standard time.
Boston Latin School Latin teacher Ms. Veronica Lau states, “Every time they change clocks, they change it so you have more evening [light]. As a teacher who wakes up at the crack of dawn, I enjoy more morning sunlight. Right now the sun comes up at 6:30 A.M., daylight savings will push it back. So when I wake up at 5:30 A.M., I’ll be shrouded in darkness.”
Advocates for daylight saving time often argue that it reduces energy consumption because people can utilize natural daylight instead of electric lights. Most studies, however, show that there is only a one percent difference in energy consumption, possibly because of increased power efficiency of modern light bulbs.
Daylight saving is also a hassle because many clocks must be changed to correspond with the new time. Anderson says, “If your clocks aren’t hooked up to the internet, they don’t automatically change, so you’re going to be like, ‘Wait, it’s 2:15 P.M., [but] I ended school an hour ago.’”
Lastly, eliminating daylight saving time would boost uniformity with the rest of the country and the world. Neither Hawaii nor Arizona implements daylight saving time, and less than 40 percent of countries still use daylight saving time today.
Angelina Guzman-Volpe (IV) claims, “[I]t seems unnecessary. The U.S. seems like basically one of the only […] countr[ies] that does it, and though I understand it’s to ‘save’ daylight […] it just throws off my sleep schedule.”
Daylight saving is a well-worn tradition, but not something that should be carried into the future. Although it is theoretically a good idea, in practice, the negative effects outweigh the benefits. Making a change, like remaining in standard time year-round, would significantly improve life for people and their clocks.
