Twice per year, most of the world changes their clocks in what is known as daylight savings time. Over the years it’s meaning has been lost, so why do we still participate in it now?

HISTORY

     Surprisingly enough, Germany was the first country to act on daylight savings time in April of 1916 as a way to conserve energy during World War I. By moving clocks forward, people could take advantage of the extra evening daylight rather than wasting energy on lighting. The rest of Europe was onboard with the idea shortly after. And in 1918, the United States adopted daylight saving time. After the war, a free for all system was established in which U.S. states and towns were given the choice of whether or not to partake in Daylight Savings Time. By 1966, Congress had enacted the Uniform Time Act, a federal law meant that any state observing Daylight Savings Tile had to follow a standard protocol throughout the state in which daylight saving time would begin on the first Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October.

MODERN TIME

     Less than forty percent of the world’s countries still observe daylight saving time. However, those who do observe Daylight Savings Time take advantage of the natural daylight in the evenings. Due to the fact that the days start to get longer as Earth moves from the winter season to spring and summer, with the longest day of the year on the summer solstice. Regions farthest away from the equator and closer to the poles get the most benefit from the Daylight Savings Time clock change since there is a more dramatic change in sunlight throughout the seasons.

EFFECT ON VILLAGE STUDENTS

     The chances of finding a student at Village that genuinely enjoys losing an hour of sleep before a Monday morning is like finding a needle in a haystack. Daylight Savings Time seems to have people at their wits end, especially during first period. After conducting a handful interviews, the general consensus stands that the United States should hop on the bandwagon along with most other countries and forgo Daylight Savings Time as a whole.

Memorable Quotes:

“I don’t really understand it, but that’s because I never wanted to”- Daniel

“To be honest, they can save their daylight and go elsewhere”- Andrew

“We go in one direction one part of the year. We go back the other way in the other part pf the year and both times it’s pitch black for those of us that get up in the morning. So I feel as though I’m waking up in the middle of the night in the morning ”- Steve

*historical info from livescience.com