With Daylight Saving Time set to begin March 10, students at California Baptist University shared mixed thoughts on whether potentially getting rid of the emphasis in California would be a good thing or not.
Daylight Saving Time refers to the bi-annual event of advancing the clock an hour in the spring and setting the clock back an hour in the fall.
California voters passed a proposition in November 2018 that allows state legislators to vote to get rid of Daylight Saving Time if the federal law changes to allow permanent daylight saving.
Dr. Kenya Davis-Hayes, professor of history, said the reason for daylight saving was to make full use of daylight hours.
“People originally decided to shift the clock to maximize daylight hours and people thought if they changed the clocks, it would help them manage time better,” Davis-Hayes said. “Children can play outside longer and instead of being governed by the clock, the clock would match daylight hours.”
Alyssa Norholm, sophomore music education and psychology double major, said she does not think getting rid of daylight saving is a good idea.
“It helps us stay on track,” Norholm said. “It gives us more daylight hours and having the warning that the daylight hours will lengthen or shorten based on the time is beneficial.”
Some states such as Arizona, Indiana and Hawaii already does not participate in this nationwide time change.
Most of Europe and North America observe daylight saving but most of Asia and Africa do not. Observance is split in South America.
“I do not see how getting rid of it is going to make much of a difference,” said Hunter Olivier, freshman bio-medical major. “I mean, we already forget about it up until it is about to happen, so I do not see the bene t or the disadvantage (of daylight savings) one way or another.”
Davis-Hayes said students need to care about daylight saving because it can help with time management.
“Daylight saving helps you be punctual and keeps you on a schedule; it will help students establish themselves as adults,” Davis-Hayes said.
With California making the move to permanently get rid of the time change, Washington and Oregon both followed in California’s footsteps, as did Florida, and most recently Arkansas.
