In 1895, one man by the name of George Vernon Hudson had the idea to turn night into day. It was a seemingly ridiculous task at first sight, yet he accomplished it with one simple concept: daylight savings. Most of the time, clocks are set forward in spring and backward in autumn. However, the government decided to move the date up to the end of winter, leaving many restless upon the new change.

The purpose of daylight savings is strange, if you can really wrap your mind around the concept. By taking away an hour of sleep, we gain an hour of daytime: meaning an hour more of studying for tests rather than an hour of catching up on the sleep lost during the week. Clearly, our man did not have Saratoga High students in mind during his epiphany.

Surely back when the idea was first introduced, it was seen as a gift, as people now had more time to catch up on their activities. AP Bio did not exist, meaning the sleep lost for them is not as significant as that of a typical high school student. However, as high school like SHS have only evolved to become more rigorous, especially junior year, daylight savings takes a toll at the most pivotal time of a junior’s semester.

And although the lack of sleep is quite devastating to students, the positive effect of daylight savings cannot be ignored. Students have more time throughout the day to get activities done. Now, this seems a little odd considering 6 p.m. is the same today as it was before the time changed, yet it is much more appealing to walk the dog or practice lacrosse when the sun is still out.

Despite this, the negative effects still bring down the use of daylight savings. States should have the authority to decide whether this concept will be utilized. Arizona is currently the only state that does not function with the daylight savings concept. Its single-mindedness and determination not to be bullied into this strange time-phenomenon should be applauded and emulated; clearly, Arizonans seem to be doing just fine without the extra hour of sun.

The concept of daylight savings is rendered useless by today’s world. More time is needed to catch up on sleep rather than spend an extra hour in the daylight. Students resent what is tantamount to a barefaced robbery of their time, while adults can be seen privately groaning at the inconvenience of leaving for work an hour earlier. And while daylight savings has been a “get up, shut up,” type of concept for decades, perhaps this is not a fight to be taken lying down—no pun intended.