Mid-October crawls around, and the annual scenes of complaint begin to seep into walks back to college: we turn to our peers to express shock and disappointment that it’s “getting dark so early”, plagued by amnesia of the same solar plight that has haunted us for every autumn of our lives.
The controversy of the clocks going back is a debate whose flame is extinguished almost as quickly as it is ignited, making headlines the weekend itself and then not being spoken of until it returns in March. Of course, the ‘spring forward’ is received far more favourably by the public, even if it does mean an hour of sleep is lost that night. In the autumn, however, as the short-lived (but glorious) extra hour of sleep wears off and the early darkness comes in full force, we are left with the common question of why we bother turning the clocks back at all.
The time change has certainly been controversial throughout its century of existence. Debates in the national news tend to centre around the impact on health due to circadian rhythm disruption, economic benefits and shortcomings of extra daylight (so we can spend time spending), and even analysing crime rates. However, as students, our understanding of time and the difference light and dark can make to our routines has a much different focus.
The 24-hour day at Oxford, compared to the vac, can feel like trying to organise your time in an alternate universe where each hour feels so much shorter and more valuable. The concept of a daily routine, even before you bring in time changes, is haunted by the problem that there is more available to do in a day with academics and extracurriculars than there are hours to do it.
The anti-‘fall-back’ crowd raises points about the early darkness making it harder to continue with work if you look out of the window and feel that your day is over at 4pm. Beyond scholastics, sport and socialising can also be negatively affected by the shortened afternoons. The medics and psychologists among us can then bring in the impact of less sunlight on mood, combined with week five blues, making a convincing argument for how the clocks going back can negatively affect all facets of student life.
On the other side, there are the people (myself included) who get far more work done when it’s dark outside, and those who simply enjoy the longer, cosy autumn evenings. Moreover, the early morning running and/or rowing community (admittedly not myself) benefit from not being in complete darkness, as would be the case if clocks didn’t go back for winter. As entertaining as it is to join in the national sarcastic bitterness over the earlier sunsets, I for one can’t bring myself to truly loathe the time change.
Unfortunately, no manmade time zone changes can outmanoeuvre the relentless march of the solstice, forcing our sunlight to be shorter in the winter even before the time change: it becomes more of a question of whether you prefer an earlier morning or a later night. Walking around in the darkness at 5pm is no more dismal than a dark wander to a 10am lecture had clocks not turned back. The pendulum swings both ways, and those who despise the darkness are rewarded with longer hours of daylight when the clocks go forward. In March, the ‘spring-forward’ half of the system allows for more time to enjoy the daylight when people are more likely to be utilising it for socialising than in the cold winters.
To defend the clock change might be a bold opinion and perhaps it simply boils down to whether you are the type of person who thrives in the summertime or prefers the snug winter months. I’m a proud lover of autumn, and the change in time is part and parcel of this season. Within the media frenzy that is stirred up every year, it can be easy to forget that the clocks going back not only have some benefits to speak of but also tend to be inflated into a more drastic upheaval than it really is.
Nonetheless, the clock change appears destined to remain controversial. Whilst having drawbacks, it can benefit night owls whose productivity spikes at dusk, or early risers who appreciate waking up to natural light seeping through their window when the cold makes leaving bed that much harder. So, on behalf of the few who don’t mind falling back, perhaps we are giving daylight savings time just a little more hatred than it deserves.
