The concept of Daylight Saving Time (DST) has been around for many years, and it has been a topic of discussion as well. Some states in the U.S. have considered permanently stopping the practice of moving the clocks back or forward an hour twice a year.
While this has some advantages, it also has some major disadvantages. A Redditor took to the forum and asked what are the cons for the US to permanently stop moving their clocks up or back an hour? and here is what the netizens have to say:
1. Increased Energy Usage
“What about the energy saved by our current practice? More people stay up past 9:00 PM than wake up before 5:00 AM, so moving an hour from the morning to the evening during longer daylight months means fewer people are turning on lights as early. An hour longer light use across the country for 6+ months out of the year would surely be a harmful energy use.” said one.
2. Technical Challenges
“Software changes. There will be tens of thousands of days of labor to fix, test, and deploy this change across all software in the US. It would probably be equivalent to the Y2K date/time bug, a major issue 23 years ago.” a user said.
3. Impact On Children’s Safety And Outdoor Activities
“I’m in favor of the current system mainly for the kids and how important it was for me when I was a child. In the Northern States, permanent DST would mean school children walking to school or waiting for the bus in the dark. Endless standard time would tell an hour less of evening sunlight in which to play outside.” a user shared.
4. Negative Impact On Mental Health
“No more seasonal depression would be a big one for me. Going to work and going home in the dark… does nothing positive for my mental health.” said one.
5. Reduced Opportunities For Recreational Activities
“As someone who likes hiking after work, DST in the summer works great for me. There are too many variables to make the change as easily as people like to think it is.” shared one.
“Losing an hour of daylight after work every single day in the summer here would be bad. There’s only so much time out of the year you can go bicycling, swimming, or whatever.” another said.
While the proposal to permanently stop DST in the U.S. has some potential benefits, significant disadvantages should be considered. What is your viewpoint on this issue? Share your thoughts in the comments.