How Daylight Savings Affects People

Two times a year, we change our clocks either ahead or set them back. These days are called Daylight Savings. Daylight Savings allows us to make better use of the daylight that we are given. In the Spring clocks get set an hour ahead, losing an hour, which is called “Spring Ahead”. In the fall clocks get set back, gaining an hour, which is called “Fall back”. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act was created so the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November are Daylight Savings. It also states that the time will change at 2:00 am, local time. 

Studies have proved that the time change due to Daylight Savings can affect people’s health. It can increase people’s risk for accidents and heart attacks. Studies proved that 5.7 percent of accidents in workplaces have occurred the Monday after daylight saving time starts. Another study proved that the number of heart attacks rose by 5 percent after the first couple of days after the time change. However, it also proves that the amount of heart attacks decreases in the fall when the time changes. The first two days of both time changes the stroke rates go up 8 percent. Daylight Savings can be harmful to some people’s health.

Daylight Savings affects a lot of people in many ways. Chloie Brion said, “Daylight Savings makes me feel more tired and it messes up my sleep schedule.” This sounds accurate according to Ashley Welch, who said, “On average, Americans lose 40 minutes of sleep when we set the clocks ahead in the Spring”. Jill Orban claimed, “I also never understood why we did it in the first place, until now. I still don’t enjoy losing an hour, but I don’t mind gaining an hour. I also don’t like how it gets so dark in the mornings in the spring and how early it gets dark in the winter.” Everyone would agree that they enjoy gaining an hour of sleep.  Chloie talked about how she would go get on the bus in the morning and it would be dark out for half a year and then the other half it would be bright. She also explained that the Daylight Savings is always an adjustment for her. 

Overall, Daylight Savings allows us to use the most daylight that we can. We have created The Uniform Time Act to help make the daylight savings go smoothly. However, there are some downfalls to it. It can be harmful to people’s health and it can also affect the amount of accidents there are. There are more accidents in the Spring due to people losing sleep. Chloie Brion and Jill Orban both agreed that daylight savings also messes with their sleep schedule. This can affect students’ work, due to the lack of sleep. Daylight Savings can bring out both positive and negative results.