Daylight Savings Time is a system for uniformly advancing clocks, to extend daylight hours during conventional waking time in the summer months. In countries in the Northern Hemisphere, clocks are usually set ahead one hour in late March or April and are set back one hour in late Sep. or in Oct.
In the United States, Daylight Savings Time formerly began on the last Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in Oct. In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed a law that, beginning the following year, moved up the start of Daylight Saving Time to the first Sunday in April but kept its end date the same.
In 2007, Daylight Saving Time changed again in the United States, as the start date was moved to the second Sunday in March and the end date to the first Sunday in Nov. In most of the countries of Western Europe, Daylight Savings Time starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in Oct.
Daylight savings time is a beneficial thing to some, and to others, they would rather have the sun setting earlier. Benjamin Franklin invented the concept in 1784, believing that rising earlier would economize candle usage and save people money. Pushing clocks forward to make greater use of daylight during the warmer months was formally adopted during World War I as part of a global attempt to conserve energy.
Students were asked questions about their thoughts and opinions on daylight savings in accordance with their own lives. Daylight savings time affects sleep schedules, attendance, etc. heavily according to some.
Rei Amante (12) says, “Personally I like daylight savings because I don’t like the idea of if you take it away it will be dark at 5 pm for a whole year instead of 6 months. I like that the sun stays out longer and that it will stay brighter for longer”
Amira (12) disagrees and says that it is “super inconvenient, it’s annoying. I suppose it has a purpose but personally, I don’t like it. It’s fun sometimes because I get to wake up so early but otherwise I find it annoying. ”
A last student agrees that daylight savings is beneficial, and says, “I enjoy daylight savings a lot. It makes me feel happier and I hate when it gets dark early so this just puts me in a better mood,” says Fran McVerry (12).
