Time to adjust to Daylight Saving Time

The time has finally come when the majority of people lose one hour of sleep. March 9, the time moved forward one hour, beginning at 2 a.m. This change will stay in effect until we fall back on Sunday, Nov. 1. 

Lily Julin stayed up waiting for the time to change. She said, “Once, because my parents hyped it up.” 

Daylight saving time not only messes up your sleep schedule, but it also increases your risk of heart attacks and strokes. There is also an increase in car crashes by 6 percent. 

Julin likes going to school, although it’s dark; there are positives and negatives.

She said, “It has benefits. I like it when it’s nice and dark, usually because I love the nighttime sky, but when it’s dark out it makes me more prone to falling asleep.”

There is a part of the brain called the circadian rhythm. When the sun sets, it starts producing melatonin. Melatonin helps regulate your sleep schedule. The circadian rhythm also decreases your body temperature. The drop in temperature happens two hours before falling asleep. The drop in temperature helps reduce energy usage and causes chillness before you fall asleep. 

Julin goes to bed like it is a normal night, she said, “Unless I get tired.”

The circadian rhythm is controlled by the biological clocks. The biological clocks are in the organs and glands throughout the body. The biological clocks are controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus. In the evening, the suprachiasmatic nucleus tells the glands and organs to release melatonin. Every day, the cycle adjusts every twelve to eighteen minutes a day because of the 24-hour rotation of the planet. It uses environmental clues to tell the time.

Julin would rather have the same time year-round. She said, “Daylight savings can be really confusing sometimes because I don’t keep track, and I’d rather not have to keep track in the first place.”

Benjamin Franklin first suggested the idea in 1784 in an essay he called an Economic Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light. In 1908, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, turned their clocks up an hour as a trial, but did not implement a change. Germany, however, was the first to make a change during World War I on April 30, 1916. Daylight savings time was adopted by the United States on March 31, 1918, in the Standard Time Act.

Julin likes the fallback. She said, “because I get an extra hour of sleep.”

Julin likes sleeping more than going outside. She said, “More sleep, I don’t spend my free time doing much, so it doesn’t matter to me if I get more of it, I just like to sleep more.”