In Ohio, this years daylight savings time began March 8, at two in the morning. Daylight savings can be described as an adjustment to the time the clock reads. 

“The sun is something I wish I saw more of in Ohio, so I am happy daylight savings has arrived,” Lauren H. ‘22 said.

Societies recent encounter with daylight savings, is known as “spring forward.” The clock skips ahead an hour, and darkness begins to fall later and later each day. 

Daylight savings is undone or “falls back” the first Sunday of every November. In other words, the hour lost in the spring is gained back in the winter months.

The practice of spring forward may seem useless as it takes away an hour from ones nightly sleep, however, this simple reuse of the worlds natural light has positive affects which people overlook.

Everyone has first hand experience with their bodies mental clock being thrown off for a few days as daylight savings begins. While this is not an enjoyable experience, after a quick adjustment to the loss or gain of the hour, life seems to go back to normal. 

Throughout spring forward, a larger portion of the time society is awake is spent with daylight. This encourages people to be productive for a longer portion of the day. One can wake up, partake in a full day of work and return home, all while it is still light outside. There is still time in the evenings to be outside and have fun. 

“During daylights savings I get up earlier because it gets lighter sooner. Waking up early for school is hard, but it is way easier when I can start my day in the light. It is at least bright out for the drive to school,” Helena R. ‘21 said.

This is not the case throughout the winter months.

In the winter, the average student or employee wakes while it is still dark outside. They spend majority of their day trapped inside as the sunlight wastes away. By the time their school or work day is over, there are few daylight hours to remain.

“After school in the winter, I often go home and lay in bed. While I do enjoy that time to relax, it encourages laziness because it is too cold and dark outside to be active,” Lauren H. ‘22 said. 

Whether people know it or not, daylight is used as an unintentional source of motivation. 

Sunlight triggers the release of the hormone serotonin in the human brain, and with exposure to sunlight, the amount of serotonin the brain releases increases. Serotonin is associated with a person’s mood as it helps people feel calm and focused, according to Healthline.com.

Since the sun is the bodies main source of vitamin D, the addition of sunlight daylight savings provides is key for both physical and mental health.

 Surrounded by the sun, a person feels a certain comfort they can not feel in the winter. Warmth, happiness and a tan can do wonders for a person, hence why countless amounts of people travel to tropical locations in the winter months.

From a financial and energy efficiency standpoint, daylights savings is also a positive. With extra amounts of sunlight, the amount of electricity needed to light rooms and surrounding areas decreases. The downside is, people will spend money on air conditioning instead. 

“Although we might be saving electricity with lighting, people will still be using electricity for heating and cooling. Heating will be used for the dark cold mornings, and cooling will be used during sunny evenings,” personal finance teacher Travis Weithoff said. 

Since the need of artificial light in the winter is interchanged with air conditioning in the summer, after daylights savings occurs, there is no significant loss of money or additional fees.

If the above reasons can not persuade people to see the benefits of daylights savings, a safe and logical fact might. Within the spring forward portion of daylight savings, the rate in crime decreases.

Research has shown robbery rates decrease after daylight savings to an average of 7%. There is an additional 27% drop due to the light-filled evening hours which did not exist before the time change, according to ahs.com.

The positive effects of daylight savings outnumber the negative, therefore society needs to continue to participate in daylight savings.