Every spring, people across the US lose an hour of sleep when the clocks move forward for daylight saving time. While the change does give people more daylight, it makes mornings more stressful, especially for students who already wake up early for school, because of this many students and experts question whether daylight saving time is still necessary today and should schools give students time off to adjust.
Daylight saving time has been used in the United States for over 100 years according to the Library of Congress, “in 1918, Congress passed an act to provide standard time for the United States.” This idea of using daylight more efficiently is even older. In 1918, congress passed an act to provider standard time for the US. The idea of using daylight more efficiently is even older. According to WebExhibits.org, Benjamin Franklin, in 1748, suggested that people could take advantage of the extra sunlight and avoid wasting resources, such as candles. The sunlight helped many households save money.
However, many researchers today question whether the time change is good for people’s health, According to the Myocarditis Foundation, “Some studies suggest that the regular switch between standard time and DST might have cumulative negative effects on heart health over the years, particularly as it disrupts sleep patterns and puts strain on the cardiovascular system.”
Overall, both DST transitions affect heart health, but the spring transition generally has a more pronounced negative impact due to sleep loss and circadian misalignment.
Sleep loss can be especially hard for teens who already don’t get enough sleep, losing this extra hour of sleep makes it worse. Researchers from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine claims that when adolescents lose vital sleep, they have a decrease in cognition. This impacts students in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom, especially when they are driving.
Giving students time off to adjust could be like a later start time for a few days or even a short break, this would allow students to catch up on sleep and return to class more focused. While daylight saving time may still have some benefits, its impact on students show that schools should consider changes to better support student health and learning.
