It Is Time to Eliminate Daylight Saving Time

Standard Time returns today in most of America. I usually post when Daylight Saving Time begins to propose the elimination of the bi-annual wasteful exercise of changing the clocks. I have noted how the loss of an hour of sleep and the disruption of the schedule and our circadian rhythm (our biological clocks) adversely affect health and cause more accidents, as more and more studies have shown. To avoid these problems, some people, including legislators, have proposed remaining on Standard Time and others to remain on Daylight Saving Time. I write now because a recent study observed the ongoing negative effects of Daylight Saving Time beyond the loss of an hour of sleep, particularly on students’ learning and on increasing accidents in mornings because of the loss of daylight, without providing any offsetting benefit. It is time to consider eliminating Daylight Saving Time and returning to a more natural schedule in harmony with our biological clocks.