The End of Daylight Savings Time?

Story by Kayla Adames. Photo courtesy of Time and Date.

Does daylight need saving? Well, that’s the question that states are trying to answer. There’s now a debate going on about whether we even need daylight savings time in the United States anymore.

Daylight savings time was created in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin in order to allow farmers more time in the fields. Advancing clocks during colder months, so that darkness fell at a later clock time, allowed farmers to earn the most amount of money during the winter.

A lot has changed since 1784. Nowadays, most people are not farmers, and even if they were, we have modern technology to help us. We’re even starting to create the farms of the future, where most farming will be self regulated by technology. So if we don’t need the extra time, what's keeping us from removing it?

To date there are only two states that don’t observe daylight saving time: Hawaii and Arizona. There are also American territories that do the same. For states like Arizona, their hot climate makes daylight savings time largely unnecessary. The same can be said for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and some other U.S territories.

Currently, US states are debating whether to keep daylight savings or remove it. However, most states are still, and probably will, continue the age-old condition of daylight saving time. Do you think that we still need daylight savings, or do you think we should go as far as removing it? Only time will tell!

Kayla Adames is an 8th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge International School.