By Madeline Horner
On November 7th at 3 a.m., the clocks moved back one hour so that we could relive 2 a.m. all over again. The majority of people were, of course, sleeping at the time and didn’t notice the shift until they woke up an hour earlier than expected. This happens every year, once a year, and the clocks also move forward an hour in the spring. Every year, twice a year, the debate sparks again, is Daylight Saving Time (DST) actually useful, or should we just get rid of it?
Daylight Saving Time is currently only observed in about 70 countries. Even inside of Canada, Saskatchewan doesn’t use Daylight Saving Time, or better put, they use it all year. Even though Saskatchewan is geographically located in the Mountain Time Zone, most of the province is on Central Standard Time, which means they are on Mountain Time’s DST all year. Daylight Saving Time happens between spring and fall and starts with the moving forward of the clocks by one hour on the second Sunday of March. This means longer evenings during the warmer months, which means that people can stay out longer without being worried about walking home in the dark.
But when you look at it from a student’s perspective, Standard Time makes sense. Waking up in the morning for school is already hard, but when you look out the window and the street lights are still on, it is even harder. It can be especially difficult for students who live far away or have a club or practice in the morning who have to wake up and leave the house while it’s still dark. So moving the clocks back and having the sunrise earlier, in theory, makes students more awake for school.
Should we keep switching back and forth every year or should we just stick to one? If so, should we stick to Standard Time or keep Daylight Saving Time all year?