OPINION: Everyone hates the dark. Keep daylight savings

Photo courtesy of Ohio University, Sept. 2021.

Bryce Hoehn is a senior studying political science and an opinion columnist for The New Political.

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.

The 2021 Daylight savings time ended this past Sunday. While we all got to enjoy an extra hour of sleep, we now face the reality that the sun will be setting earlier for the next four months. This tradition of moving the clocks an hour back and forth throughout the year is quite frustrating and can have serious consequences. 

Rather than continuing this outdated tradition, we should apply daylight savings year-round to maximize sunlight during waking hours, as well as reduce seasonal depression and other negative consequences of the time change.

Daylight savings was first introduced during the war effort of World War I. The United States was inspired by Germany, which began the practice on May 1, 1916. Soon after, it expanded to most of the nations in the war. By moving the clocks forward an hour, the countries could redirect fuel used on artificial lighting to the war effort. This was an unpopular idea, particularly with farmers, and it was quickly repealed after the war.

In 1942, daylight savings was introduced again in World War Il by President Franklin Roosevelt. Similarly, the initiative was repealed at the end of the war in 1945, though many states chose to keep their variations of daylight savings.

From 1945 to 1966, individual states had variations of daylight savings that often did not line up. This created confusion in interstate transportation and broadcasting until congress passed the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which established the system we use today.

An important provision of the Uniform Time Act is that it gives states the option to either use daylight savings on specific dates and times specified in the act or stick with standard time year-round. It does not allow states to use daylight savings permanently. Hawaii and Arizona, which already get plenty of sunlight, have opted for standard time over daylight savings.

Nineteen states, including Ohio, have passed measures to make daylight savings permanent in the past four years. These measures have been passed on the state level but cannot take effect until the federal Uniform Time Act is amended.

The biannual time change may seem like a mild inconvenience, but it has far-reaching consequences. 

Researchers have attributed the time change to an increase in traffic accidents, strokes and heart attacks. Most of these effects are associated with losing an hour in the spring, but one study found that hospitals reported an 11% increase in depressive symptoms in patients during the fall. The lack of sunlight during the winter months is a major factor in seasonal depression and making daylight savings permanent could alleviate these symptoms for millions of people. 

The seasonal daylight savings that we use now is unpopular amongst the public, and efforts to change it have been met with bipartisan support. In the last decade at Ohio University, there were even riots in the streets when the bars closed an hour early due to the time change.

The biggest issue with changing the practice seems to be a lack of consensus on what to do instead. I propose that rather than eliminating daylight savings, we make it permanent. This is the most practical plan, considering it is observed for most of the year, and standard time has been associated with increased depressive symptoms.

Other benefits of daylight savings include a decrease in crime and traffic accidents, increased consumer shopping, and healthier lifestyles, as people are more likely to participate in outdoor recreation. Regarding the adverse effects mentioned previously, most are only due to the time change, not from the practice itself. By making daylight savings permanent, these issues would be nonexistent.

The Uniform Time Act has already been amended several times throughout the past 50 years to make daylight savings longer, and it currently lasts for almost eight months out of the year. Congress should either amend the act to make daylight savings permanent federally or give states the choice to do so on their own.