Every year on the first Sunday of November, daylight saving time ends, giving us an “extra” hour. This transition might not be easy for everyone, and can affect students.

Daylight saving time was implemented as an attempt to take advantage of the longer hours of daylight during the warmer months of the year. It also aimed towards a goal of saving energy and utilizing the sun’s natural light instead of wasting electricity. Each year on the second Sunday of March, people set their clocks ahead an hour. To balance this, on the first Sunday of November, people set them backwards an hour. 

Some students claim that they like this change because it allows them to spend an extra hour sleeping, which may be pretty rare, considering how demanding high school is and how infrequently they get to sleep in on usual days. 

Freshman Isabella Chen thinks that the time change “isn’t much of a big deal because it’s only one hour. [They] might feel tired earlier and wake up earlier in the morning, but [their bodies] adjust pretty quickly, usually in the span of a few days.”

On the other hand, some students say that the daylight saving time change in November has a negative impact on them. When they set their clocks backwards an hour, the sky gets dark a lot earlier in the day. 

Freshman Vera Wong says that “the dark environment causes [her] to feel drowsy and unmotivated to do homework.” Obviously, this is not beneficial to students’ education. 

Reduced daylight may also trigger mental health issues. Kate Horowitz from Mental Floss reported that a Danish study once found an 11% increase in bipolar disorder, seasonal depression, and mood swings in the United States after the time switch. Considering that the month of November is commonly known to be midterm season, these mental health issues are definitely not helping students study better for their important tests.

In conclusion, some students agree that daylight saving is a good thing, while others think that it makes their daily lives more difficult.

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