OPINION
FROM SUNSHINE PROTECTION TO BURNOUT PREVENTION
PRESERVING DAYLIGHT ACROSS THE SEASONS By Siona Wadhawan “
D
on’t forget to set your clocks back!” is a phrase most Americans have grown accustomed to when daylight savings time (DST) hits. While many groan and complain about this seemingly trivial process, others delight in getting to wake up to the extra hour of sunshine. As DST continues, it receives more controversy each year. Many wonder how this archaic practice is still beneficial to modern society. Just recently, the US federal government proposed the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make DST permanent so that the time would no longer change twice a year, and American society would operate under one standard time. Many people are in support of this bill as DST can cause disruption in the
24 TUFTS OBSERVER NOVEMBER 21, 2022
schedules and life balances of many Americans, including college students within the Tufts community. The Sunshine Protection Act provides unique benefits for these students. DST is a practice that began over 100 years ago when English constructor William Warnet proposed that the idea of daylight savings would prevent the British Government from wasting daylight. His idea was that DST would give more light in the daytime during working hours, allowing for laborers to have more energy and therefore be more productive. This idea continued to become popular until it was adopted by England following the end of World War I and several more countries, including the United States, in 1918.
Today, DST continues to reinforce toxic notions of productivity and hustle culture through distorting daily schedules and limiting how we can practice self-care outside of work. Its very inception, rooted in the idea of productivity and maximizing labor, is just the first indication of this. Because Tufts is an elite university, many students are already under a large amount of pressure to be constantly productive to earn good grades, build strong resumes, and have successful careers. Low income and first generation students are also especially burdened by this, as they are dealing with added stressors of student loans, and for some, pressure from family members to work hard to receive high paying jobs to provide for their families back home.