Daylight Savings Time: Do we need it?

By Tyler Lindsay

With technology advancing and no mass need for extended daylight, saving time is not needed anymore. 

Daylight saving time first started in late 1784 with Benjamin Franklin writing a letter to an overseas newspaper, but it was not widely used until World War 1 to help troops with saving their resources. In the US, it was not standardized until late 1966 when it was passed in the Uniform Time Act. 

This act was used to help farmers at the time with getting the most work out of their day with the summer days being long and the fall days short. This was beneficial until technology caught up to the present day. Now there are lights on tractors and the farming equipment runs faster.  

Only 70 countries today use Daylight Savings Time. In the United States, following it is not a law, but most states still use it. Arizona and Hawaii are the only two state that do not observe it.

There are many negative effects with Daylight Savings Times. It can cause sleep deprivation when the clocks go forward an hour and back an hour. It can cause people’s bodies to throw themselves off sync when it is still light or dark outside. This causes people to mess their sleep schedule up.

It also can play a role in mental health, with it causing seasonal depression to certain people. Daylight Savings Time has caused higher rates in suicidal cases just days after the transition.

Daylight Savings Time has also shown that it contributes to a 5% increase in heart attacks in the first week. It has also been shown that stroke rates increase in the first days of the time shift.

Due to negative health effects and farmers no longer needing the extra time, there is no reason why we should continue this concept today.

Sources 

wedontneeddst.com

www.insider.com/daylight-savings-negative-effects-2018-3.

www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/01/daylight-saving-time-why-and-when-the-us-started-changing-the-clock/.