Daylight savings comes along every year with a list of pros and cons sparking a long-standing debate. Should people keep advancing their clocks on the second Sunday of March and are there any actual benefits to it in modern day? 

The origin of daylight savings goes back to farmers using it to get daylight during their harvest seasons but according to CBS News, farmers did not actually support the practice as it gave them an extra hour of hot temperatures.  

According to timeanddate.com, daylight savings was used for the first time in Ontario, Canada on July 1, 1908, and spread throughout Canada in the following years.  

Daylight savings became a global practice following World War One (WWI) when it was used by Germany to save fuel by not needing to use artificial lighting as long as before. Other countries followed this change during the war time but reverted to standard time. World War Two (WWII) made daylight savings permanent in United States and was kept as a yearly practice.  

In March 2022, the Sunshine Protections Act was passed by the Senate and proposed making daylight savings time permanent in spring 2023. According to NPR, even though the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, the House did not pass the bill as members thought there were higher priorities.  

Making daylight savings permanent would benefit the country economically according to Sen. Marco Rubio as more sunlight in the evenings would encourage people to go out which leads to spending more money.  

NPR also discussed the arguments against the bill, one being from a medical standpoint. Instead of making daylight savings time permanent, standard time should be the one that is adopted year-round as it aligns with people’s “inner clocks” According to the National Institue of Health, there is a circadian rhythm in brains that regulates sleep cycles by responding to light changes in an environment.  

With college students, the issue of daylight savings stems from two factors, sleep deprivation and mental health consequences.  

UTEP students shared their thoughts on daylight savings and whether they believed that a time change was needed. 

“I don’t like it; it doesn’t make me feel any more productive it just makes me feel like my whole body is thrown off for a couple of weeks and actually that makes me less productive,” UTEP student Kelsey Quintana said. 

Quintana also shared her disappointment on the House not passing the Sunshine Protection Act. 

“I was looking forward to it and then it didn’t pass and I’m kind of disappointed because there are a lot of health issues that come with daylight savings,” Quintana said.  

The time change can cause issues to people’s health, Business Insider states that there is an 11 percent increase in hospital visits related to seasonal depression during the change and that the combined rates of suicide and substance abuse rose by 6.59 percent between 1979 and 1988. The Monday after daylight savings there is also a 24 percent increase in heart attacks.  

UTEP student Abigail Torres shares how the time change helps her productivity but affects her energy.  

“Because the day feels a little longer, I feel like I have more time to do my work and get my stuff done,” Torres said. “But at the same time, I don’t like how we lose that sleep at the start and with the days feeling longer it makes me more tired by the end of the day.” 

As the debate continues, it is important to plan accordingly to be able to minimize the lack of sleep which could lead to bigger consequences. The Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers many different services to students struggling with seasonal depression and can be reached at (915) 747-5302 and [email protected].   

Ximena Cordero is a staff reporter and may be reached at [email protected].