Daylight savings has been around for more than a hundred years, but there has recently been a push to end it because of its negative effects on sleep and health. Many CHS students notice the drastic time change and feel that it is overall not worth it.
Bradley Paine, a sophomore at CHS who answered a survey saying that he hated daylight savings, said, “During swim team, I have to drive to Wenatchee every single day. I basically go to school, and I’m in school [for the whole day] and when I get home it’s pitch black outside, so I can’t really do anything.”
Paine also explained how the change in light and times throws him off and can get in the way of his sleep.
Daylight savings was originally implemented in 1918, with the Standard Time Act of 1918. It was put into motion to conserve energy and extend the work day during World War l. When people work during sunlight hours, less fuel has to be burned.
Daylight savings was repealed by Congress after World War l and was enacted again in 1942 for World War ll and then repealed for the last time in 1945. The rules and regulations enforced during these times were slightly different than the ones that most people are familiar with today.
A more familiar version of daylight saving time was put in place in 1966, when the Uniform Time Act was passed, which brought back the twice-a-year clock change. The most recent change to daylight saving time was in 2005, when the Energy Policy Act was put into action, pushing back daylight saving a few weeks.
While the majority of the United States follow daylight saving rules normally, both Arizona and Hawaii have opted out of the time changes. Most of Europe follows daylight savings, but there are still many countries that don’t.
Despite what some would call unnecessary troubles, several CHS students still enjoy it. They believe it is a good switch and changes things when the year is going by slowly with no differences.
Aaron Bearslee, sophomore who answered the survey saying that he loved daylight savings, said, “I find it as something that . . . allows for a difference . . . [it] allows for more time or less time to do things during the day, which then switches things around throughout the day.”
When asked if he felt that daylight savings affects his sleep, he said, “For the first little while I would say so but eventually, you know, it does just switch back to how it regularly was, so overall it doesn’t affect things very much”
Ultimately, it is clear that CHS students have very mixed feelings about daylight savings, whether they think that it is a good change or useless, most people agree that it throws them and their sleep patterns off, at least for a while.
