Part of The Bird on Fire’s What’s in the News
By 8th-Grade Blogger Jackie Pretorius
Daylight savings is a stupid thing we do that changes our clocks twice a year. It’s stupid in my opinion at least. Why do we do such a thing in the first place? It just seems unnecessary.
Well, according to usafacts.org, it all started in WWI to conserve fuel because working when it’s sunny out helps burn less fuel and it also makes people work later into the day. This was called the Standard Time Act of 1918 (https://usafacts.org). However, after the war ended so did the daylight savings, until it was enacted again in 1942 and then repealed again in 1945–all because WWII was going on. The daylight savings system we are familiar with began in 1966 due to the Uniform Time Act. Then, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 made daylight savings even longer than it was before!
Most states have daylight savings, but it is possible to opt out of it like Hawaii and Arizona. Meanwhile 19 other states wanted daylight saving to go year round. This in theory will make it less confusing as time won’t randomly switch while still keeping the benefits of more sun. To make this opting out official, Congress needs to approve it. That’s what the Sunshine Protection Act hoped to do, but it was only brought up in 2021 and 2025. Nothing has been done so far.
I personally think daylight savings is stupid, but do others think the same way? Ms. Schapiro says, “I am not a fan. I have a very difficult time adjusting afterwards. So I’ve been falling asleep at 7 p.m. since the time change, and then not waking up again until 11 p.m. and not going back to sleep until 3 or 4. I hate it.” I think she agrees with me.
I *do* agree with you, Jackie- wholeheartedly!