At 2 a.m. on November 2, daylight saving time officially ended and standard time began. For most of us, that meant waking up to a darker afternoon, feeling extra confusion over what time Bartol would open, and at least one professor forgetting to change a classroom clock.
It happens every year, and every year we collectively ask the same question: Why are we still doing this?
Daylight saving time was first adopted during World War I to conserve fuel by maximizing daylight hours. More than a century later, that rationale no longer holds up. Our energy use patterns have changed, rendering the “savings” negligible. What remains is a biannual disruption that hurts more than it helps, especially for college students.
At Simmons, the time change hits hard. The “fall back” gives us one extra hour of sleep, but by the time we’ve adjusted, it’s pitch dark before our late-afternoon classes end. As we back from the library or the Main College Building at 5 p.m. it feels like it’s already midnight. In the spring, when clocks “spring forward” once more, we’ll lose that hour again – right as midterms approach and our sleep schedules are already hanging by a thread.
Various research shows that these time shifts disrupt our circadian rhythms, increase rates of depression, and even spike the risk of car crashes in the week following the switch. For students balancing coursework, jobs and internships, that extra grogginess is not just inconvenient, but also a health and safety issue.
Still, not everyone agrees that it’s time to scrap the switch ups. Instead, many believe that we should permanently adopt daylight saving time – using it year-round instead of March through November. Supporters argue that those extra hours of evening light actually do some good: encouraging people to get outside, shop locally, and stay active after work or class.
More daylight in the evening can also make communities feel safer, with fewer accidents and less crime reported during brighter hours. And while the original goal of conserving fuel may be outdated, proponents say the shift still helps reduce electricity use in the evenings, when lights would otherwise stay on longer.
From that view, the minor hassle of changing the clocks twice a year might be a fair trade-off for a little more sunshine in our days.
But even those supposed benefits don’t outweigh the downsides. The energy savings that the time shift might offer are minimal in our modern world of LED lighting and round-the-clock screen time.
For students, the health costs are real: disrupted sleep, increased stress, and that creeping sense of burnout that hits hardest during the dark months. It’s hard to enjoy a longer evening when your body’s internal clock is out of sync.
The United States has debated eliminating daylight saving time for years. In 2022, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent, but the bill stalled in the House. Meanwhile, dozens of states have proposed ending the practice altogether – with Hawaii and Arizona already having done so. Other countries, including Japan and China, also ditched daylight saving time years ago without chaos ensuing.
Simmons students are taught that we should question systems that no longer make sense and advocate for evidence-based change. Ending the “fall back” to standard time fits squarely in that mission. It’s simple, practical and long overdue.
As we re-program our alarms and double-check our calendars this week, maybe we should also reset our thinking. It’s 2025 – we can handle ending a century-old experiment. It’s time to stop changing the clocks and start changing the policy.
CORRECTION: November 10, 2025
A previous version of this article contained a different title and unclear information regarding daylight saving time. The title and relevant content has been edited for clarity and all other content remains the same.
