On November 5th, over 1 billion people, including myself, set their clocks back one hour in observance of Daylight Saving Time (DST). DST was set up to save energy and make better use of the sunlight. In the beginning of the year, clocks spring forward allowing the sun to set later in the day. During the end of the year, clocks fall back an hour, causing the sun to set earlier in the evening. DST sounds like a great, beneficial idea, but I frankly do not agree with the use of DST for the following reasons:
Even gaining an hour, I still feel behind While feeling behind when moving the clock ahead an hour, I still feel so behind when I gain an hour. It will feel like one time and actually be another. I wake up earlier than I should thinking it is actually later, which confuses me the rest of the day. It also does not help that it gets dark earlier when gaining an hour.
Getting dark earlier Personally, I hate having to walk around campus at 5 p.m. and having it already be pitch black. I also do not wake up as the sun is rising to enjoy a “full” day of sunlight ultimately shortening my day. This is also confusing to the brain because it appears to be much later in the evening than it actually is. With it so dark early, I feel tired early when I should be working on homework or studying and not sleeping at 6 or 7 p.m.
Major inconvenience While some clocks change automatically by themselves such as phones and laptops, some clocks do not. Having to figure out how to change the clock on the microwave or in the car can be challenging and inconvenient. Even worse, if an alarm clock does not get reset, it won’t go off at the correct time, causing issues with getting to class or work on time.
Not what people think it is for It has been rumored that in America, DST was started for the benefit of farmers during the summer evenings. However, farmers were against DST because they work based on the sun and not the clock so it actually disrupted their work. DST does not even save that much energy to be as beneficial as it is said to be. Lastly, not everyone is even using it. In America alone, Arizona, Hawaii and the external territories don’t use it.
(All photos courtesy of Giphy)