Daylight saving time is approaching, so all people in the United States of America, except for those living in Arizona and Hawaii should set their clocks one hour back at 2a.m on November 3rd. The Uniform Time Act signed in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, set daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but President George W. Bush extended it from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, and it has been that way since 2007.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, and Oregon need approval from the Federal government to make daylight saving time permanent, and they already have approved legislation in their states. States like California, Alaska, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas, Vermont, and Utah want some sort of change in the way they use daylight saving time; Texas wants a set permanent standard time. Delaware, and Oregon are requiring other states with their time zones to switch to permanent daylight saving time, which is what they want, but their requirement can postpone their proposal.
There are many people who are against time change, like President Trump; others think that time change can increase the risk of a heart attack and stroke, and is unhealthy, especially for the elderly. On the other hand, those like the National Parent Teacher Association, and the U.S Department of Transportation say the time change is good, for children don't have to go to school in the dark, it saves energy, and reduces crimes.
Questions:
- What is your opinion on daylight saving time?
- Would you like California to permanently have daylight saving time?
- Do you think that all states should have the same time? Why? Why not?
I do not believe that all states should have a uniform time because that would lead to lots of change and confusion. Creating a uniform time could have massive impacts on institutions and people. Everything that has time posted on it would be forced to undergo a change to fit in line with a new time. Things, such as people’s scheduled appointments would suddenly change times, leading to large amounts of chaos. The removal of daylight saving time would definitely not have such an impact, so that can still be a possibility. As for my opinion on daylight saving time, I don’t really lean one way or another because the time change never impacts me in any significant manner. However, it is a bit concerning how there are studies that indicate a correlation between the time change and heart attacks.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that the daylight savings time is fine as is. While it is admittedly unpleasant at times to suddenly shift your sleeping schedule by an hour, the alternative is needlessly long summer days or awkwardly dark winter days; I do not think that people would appreciate the sky starting to go dark as they leave after 7th period, nor would they appreciate showing up to school when it's still dark. While there are conflicts when different states have different systems (if I recall correctly, Arizona does not have Daylight Savings Time), those are reconciled easily, and as stated in your summary there are good arguments for its advantages. I do wonder if there are issues with computer systems having to adjust awkwardly, but if they could figure out Y2K they can figure out this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan that Daylight savings time is fine the way it is. There is a small minority that experiences an increase in heart attacks (24% according to Business Insider) and that small population is likely people that already have heart problems, so I don't think it makes sense to change something just because a small population is affected. It is possible that Trump is supportive of making Daylight Savings permanent because he has heart problems. If people with heart problems know what puts their health at risk, they should be aware of the ways to combat it.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really get why we need daylight savings because it was made to reduce electricity usage, but there isn’t even evidence that it does that. And it is only an hour difference, if we really wanted to make an impact, it should be more of a time change. However, the sudden time change is unhealthy and throws people’s internal clocks off, making it difficult for people to sleep. But at the same time, this widespread lack of sleep is not simply because of daylight savings, that is its own issue by itself. In fact daylight savings probably has the least to do with why everyone doesn’t get enough sleep. And I don’t think all states should have the same time because while it is annoying that we have to convert time differences across the country, as people mentioned above, it would have West Coasters going through their morning in the dark and East Coasters dealing with darkness right after school, which nobody wants.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with much of what was stated above, I do not think that the U.S. should change the Daylight savings time system. Although there are benefits to either side of the argument, I think that it would lead to confusion and conflicts across states and would not be appropriate for certain regions of the United States at certain times of the year.
ReplyDeleteDaylight savings time is something that needs change. Either states should permanently adopt it, or permanently get rid of it. I do not enjoy waking up to complete darkness in the fall, with the sun not rising until past 7. And the change in time is a confusing event that causes troubles. It can make people late for their jobs, wake up at weird times, and overall causes chaos. But I think the most important thing is that all states should act uniformly in how they deal with daylight savings time. A situation like in Australia, where daylight savings time varies dramatically and is impossible to understand to the layman. If timezones become even more complicated than they currently are, there will be nothing but trouble.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the people above in that Daylight Savings Time is fine as it currently is. However, while it does has obvious benefits such as increasing safety for students and visibility at certain times of the day, there is some concern of having difficulty adjusting to the clock change and the hassle of doing it. However, switching to a permanent DST would prove to be difficult all the states in the time zone are required to switch as well, elongating the whole process.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Daylight Savings Time is fine as is. However, I also think the differences in time in all the states is confusing and perhaps a uniform time change is needed. There are concerns that Daylight Savings Time is much too confusing, however, getting rid of it would also cause confusion as many of the states would have to change their time as well. Therefore, I think that it is best to just leave it as it is.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the current daylight saving time system we have now is perfectly fine and shouldn't be changed. The current daylight saving time system has been in American's lives for so many years that it has become a normal part of the year, and honestly, it's enjoyed by most people due to how helpful it is with daylight.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe daylight savings time is crucial to many aspects of society that aren't really recognized. If daylight savings did not exist, during winter the sun would set close to 5 or 6, and it would still be dark in the early hours of the morning. Those driving during the earlier hours of the morning or after it gets dark earlier could experience a higher likelihood of ending up in a car crash, as statistics show that driving while it is dark outside decreases visibility and so increases the chances of a crash. Furthermore, outdoor sports practices would have to adjust their times for practices or games to accommodate for the sun setting earlier. Some practice fields don't have lights, or are not safe enough to play on while it is dark. Furthermore, walking in the dark can be more dangerous than doing so during daylight, and using daylight savings allows for children walking to school or for people walking home or to some mode of transportation to be safer doing so. Because of these reasons, daylight savings should be adopted by all states, as it is very beneficial and has become a normal part of everyday life for Americans.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I believe day light savings time is important because it keeps the sun's schedules in line and more consistent with our clocks. If we did not change the clocks back one hour in the fall, it would still be dark outside until around seven in the morning. The way our planet orbits the sun and spins on its axis allows for different amounts of sun exposure during different seasons. I believe California should continue changing the clocks forward or back an hour because it has worked well for so long. I do not believe it is extremely burdensome to change only an hour. I do not think that all the states should be on the same time because I think it should be dark at night and light during the day, and time zones and daylight savings allows this to continue.
ReplyDeleteFor most Americans, DST is an equilibrium - for the hour of sleep you gain, you also lose an hour of sleep later in the year. This toggling back and forth is detrimental to the health of many senior citizens, however. On the other hand, it is evident that DST poses many benefits as well, such as boosted productivity. Perhaps we can find the best of both worlds by making daylight savings time permanent, but only with a half hour difference from regular time. Or, instead of adjusting the actual time, we can adjust the timings of our events throughout the day. (It's evident that this could cause problems though, as lots of current legislation such as the new school start time policy revolve around DST).
ReplyDeleteI personally like daylight saving's time. I think it makes sense to have more daylight in the summer, but it really is not ok for students to be going to school in the dark. We could solve the problem by having school start later and making DST permanent, but that seems to be a hard fought battle.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the country chooses to do seems OK. It's an hour time difference, and I don't think it will really affect most Americans very much. Different states being on different time schedules is a complete disaster though, not only for private businesses scheduling (like shipping and things like that) but also for the public sectors. Things like primaries, elections, etc. are all that much harder to schedule and that much more complicated when you have essentially double the number of time zones to deal with.