Features

Daylight Savings Time creates controversy

Exploring the history behind Daylight Savings Time, and the safety concerns behind the yearly event.

Abram Walls, Staff Writer

March 11, 2026

Daylight Saving Time originated as a World War I energy conservation measure. It was first implemented by Germany on April 30th, 1916, to conserve fuel for lighting. DST, also known as Daylight Saving Time, has a lot of history, relating back to ancient civilizations. People in ancient times would set days to be around 12 hours long; days progressively got longer during summer and shorter during autumn. For example, the Romans would keep time on a water clock that had different scales for different months of the year. As I mentioned earlier, DST originated as a WWI energy conservation measure. Germany was the one who really started it all; soon, all of Europe followed. The plan wasn’t adopted by the U.S. until the Standard Time Act of March 19th.

Let’s talk about modern DST in the United States! DST takes place on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday of November. The time changes usually take place at 2:00 a.m. local time. Daylight saving time lasts for a total of 34 weeks every year, about 65% of the time. Almost all U.S. states observe DST, with the exceptions of Hawaii and some of Arizona. Hawaii is tropical, located near the equator, which means that daylight hours remain constant year-round, rendering time change unnecessarily. Some parts of Arizona do not follow DST, and this is to avoid extending the extreme heat into the evening, which would increase energy consumption for air conditioning.

Daylight Savings Time creates controversy because it disrupts human sleeping patterns, causing sleep loss, fatigue, and increased health risks. Long-term lack of sleep also raises your risk of obesity, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, stroke, and heart diseases. A good sleep usually consists of up to 7 to 9 hours of sleep, and with DST many states lose an hour, lose an hour of sleep, an hour to work, and an hour to prepare.

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About the Contributor

Abram Walls, Staff Writer

Hi, I’m Abram Walls, I’m a junior and this is my first year in newspaper. I enjoy soccer and hanging out with my friends.