Trading evenings for mornings isn’t a deal anyone made willingly.
Going from daylight savings to standard time on the first Sunday of November was cool when you’re little, getting an extra hour of sleep—even if it’s taken away again in March—and the endless dad jokes about how the clock in his car will finally be right again. Moving the clock around seemed cool, like real-life time travel.
But as you get older, you realize the sunset at 4:00 p.m. isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. As the weather gets colder and work and school get busy, the last thing anyone needs is to feel like their day’s over after 4:00 p.m.
Daylight saving time was first enacted to conserve fuel during World War Two, pushing clocks ahead so the sun set later in the spring. When the days got shorter in November, they turned the clocks back again so people wouldn’t wake up to darkness. Daylight savings was quickly adopted by much of Europe and North America, and has been the same ever since.
What doesn’t make sense is why people care about dark mornings when the whole goal was to have later evenings. In the age of remote work and online classes, people’s schedules are more flexible than ever. You could ask the 48 per cent of the workforce that works from home if they’re awake for the 7 a.m., sunrise, and I bet you not many are.
Even for the early birds who’re up at seven each day, it’s not like they’re going to bed when the sun sets at 4:30 p.m. They’re still losing time even if they get the hour that most people aren’t even awake for.
Daylight savings should be kept permanently, erasing the jump back to standard time each November.
Experts say adjusting to the shift has harmful effects on the body, including increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and digestive problems. Some provinces have recognized this, like Saskatchewan which remains on Central Standard Time year-round, and B.C. and Ontario, who’re waiting for neighbouring states and provinces to agree before making the switch.
It makes far more sense to have more daylight in the evening, when people aren’t at work, and can enjoy being outside. Even if it’s light in the morning, most people are just getting ready and commuting to work, which could easily be done in the dark. Some parental groups advocate for the clocks falling back to make sure their kids are walking to school in the light, but a 4:30 p.m. sunset still means a dark walk home for any kids involved in after-school activities. If dark morning walks is really such an issue, surely school could be moved back an hour if year-round daylight savings time were enacted.
The earlier sunset can have a serious negative effect on people’s mental health. Losing an hour of daylight means losing an hour of productivity and dramatically reducing your vitamin D intake. Currently, five per cent of adults suffer from seasonal affective disorder and 10 to 20 per cent experience a milder form of seasonal depression.
Sending the clocks back an hour helps no one, and leaves people depressed and alone in their houses by 5 pm. We’re living in the midst of a mental health epidemic, and returning to standard time is only making it worse. It’s time government officials recognize this and come to a collective agreement to enact year-round daylight savings time.
Cloey is a 4th-year Politics, Philosophy and Economics student and The Journal’s Editorials Editor
Tags
British Columbia, Daylight savings, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Time
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