Did you know that daylight savings was first implemented in the United States to conserve energy during World War I? People’s opinions on daylight savings are all over the place. For Example, as an LHS teacher Mr. Fassbender. “ I am torn because there are two sides to this debate. When I was a club volleyball coach, a fellow coach of mine worked for Alliant Energy as an engineer and he told me how important Daylight Savings was to conserve and limit energy use during that time of the year. I feel strongly that we should do anything we can to limit energy use and preserve the environment so I am happy to fall back and spring forward once a year for energy savings. On the other hand, studies have shown that accidents (both automobile and work-related) increase in the days after the time change, possibly due to the effects of Daylight Savings. So it does do some real tangible harm.”
This change will disrupt the sleep patterns of over 300 million people. These effects will doubtlessly be felt and seen nearly everywhere. LHS sophomore Ellie Fahey can show this. She feels that daylight savings greatly affects her.
“I’d say it affects my morning schedule a lot, like, just when I need to get up and it gets flipped around. I mean it’s nice that we get an hour, but I just don’t like waking up when it’s dark out. And I also feel like it ruins my sleep schedule.”
“It definitely does hit me the first day or so. I’m tired and it will take me a few days to adjust.” Mr. Fassbender stated. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that during school days after the time change, students were sleepier, had slower reaction times, and were less attentive.
Yet some feel that it is still worth it such as Mr. Fassbender.
“I think it’s worth the energy savings as long as the harm done (accidents) is not too pervasive/severe.” While others like LHS junior Chase Mass feel that it isn’t.
“Not even in the least, by the time we start using it, the hour we gain is lost by, like, 6:00 pm” Do you think we should keep daylight savings?
