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Sympathetic Perspectives Informative Outline Example

The document outlines the pros and cons of Daylight Saving Time (DST), focusing on safety, productivity, and economic impacts. It discusses how DST can reduce crime and encourage outdoor activities, but also highlights negative health effects and decreased productivity due to disrupted circadian rhythms. Additionally, it examines the economic benefits for certain industries alongside the costs incurred by others, such as dairy farming.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
8 views4 pages

Sympathetic Perspectives Informative Outline Example

The document outlines the pros and cons of Daylight Saving Time (DST), focusing on safety, productivity, and economic impacts. It discusses how DST can reduce crime and encourage outdoor activities, but also highlights negative health effects and decreased productivity due to disrupted circadian rhythms. Additionally, it examines the economic benefits for certain industries alongside the costs incurred by others, such as dairy farming.

Uploaded by

camryhensley22
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Smith 1

Jane Smith

Mrs. Freeman

COMM 210

26 January 2026

Daylight Saving Time Sympathetic Perspectives Outline

I.​ Attention-Grabber: Dark. Cold. Dreary. Tiresome. Adjectives describe long Indiana

winters. Bright sunny mornings and sunsets at 9 p.m.

Credibility Statement: We’re getting ready to spring forward our clocks by one hour, pros/cons

of daylight saving time

Thesis & Preview Map: Today, I’d like to discuss with you the positives and negatives

surrounding daylight saving time. First I’ll go over safety issues, then productivity issues, and

finally, economic issues.

Transition: First,

II.​ Safety.

A.​ Outside safety

B.​ The extra daylight hours help car drivers see pedestrians

C.​ Economists Jennifer Doleac and Nicholas Sanders from the Review of Economics

and Statistics in 2015, found that robberies drop about 7% overall, and 27% in the

evening hours after the spring time change.

D.​ They state, “Most street crime occurs in the evening around common commuting

hours of 5 to 8 PM, and more ambient light during typical high-crime hours

makes it easier for victims and passers-by to see potential threats and later

identify wrongdoers” (Doleac and Sanders).


Smith 2

E.​ However, health safety, daylight saving time can be bad:

1.​ Brian Handwerk wrote in a 2013 article that “Changing sleep patterns,

even by one hour, goes against a person’s natural circadian rhythms and

has negative consequences for health.” He cites, “one study found that the

risk of a heart attack increases 10% the Monday and Tuesday following

the spring time change.”

Transition: Besides safety, productivity.

III. More light, more active

F.​ Hendrik Wolff, Associate Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University,

states, because of DST “people engaged in more outdoor recreation and less

indoor-TV watching… An additional 3 percent of people engaged in outdoor

behaviors who otherwise would have stayed indoors.”

1.​ More productive, means healthier

G.​ However, as with the negative health risks associated with DST, linked to a

decrease in productivity.

1.​ Till Roenneberg, a German chronobiologist, who studies the body’s

relationship with light and dark, notes that the human circadian clock

doesn’t adjust to DST and the “consequence of that is that the majority of

the population has drastically decreased productivity, decreased quality of

life, increasing susceptibility to illness, and is just plain tired.”

Transition: This leads me to my last point, the effects on the economy.

IV. Daylight saving time has positive and negative effects on our economy.

A.​ Longer, shopping/retail


Smith 3

B.​ A 2016 Popular Mechanics article that “The golf industry reports that one month of DST

was worth $200 to $400 million because of the extended evening hours golfers can play.

The barbecue industry estimates their profits increase $150 million for one month of

DST” (Nosowitz).

C.​ A lot of revenue, but the Lost-Hour Economic Index found in 2019 that “moving the

clocks forward has a total cost to the US economy of $434 million nationally.”

a.​ For example, many dairy farmers claim DST negatively impacts their milk

production. Springing forward or falling back an hour disrupts cow’s milk

production. It takes a few weeks to adjust to the schedule change.

b.​ Associate Professor of Animal Science at Missouri State University Lacy

Sukovaty explains in a March 2023 interview, “As their mammary glands fill up,

that builds up pressure, and that gets uncomfortable for them, But also,... on the

physiology part, it can tell them how much milk to produce or not produce if

they’re staying full longer. It doesn’t seem like an hour would have that big of an

effect over a period of time. That could affect milk production when you’re

talking about over a few 100 animals in some dairies or a few 1,000″ (Sukovaty).

V. Conclusion: I have presented three big arguments for and against daylight saving

time. Each side of the arguments of safety, productivity, and the economy have reasons

why we should or should not have DST.

A.​ Congress?

B.​ Continue to spring forward and fall back


Smith 4

Works Cited

Doleac, Jennifer, and Nicholas J. Sanders. "Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light

Influences Criminal Activity." The Review of Economics and Statistics, 8 Dec. 2015.

Handwerk, Brian. "Time to Move On? The Case Against Daylight Saving Time." National

Geographic,1 Nov. 2013, [Link]. Accessed 12 Jan.. 2026.

Nosowitz, Dan. "Shut Up About Daylight Saving Time, It's Actually Great." Popular Mechanics,

31 Oct. 2016, [Link]. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.

Schumacher, Kaitlyn. “How Daylight Saving Time Impacts Farmers.” KY3, 10 Mar. 2023,

[Link] Accessed

16 Jan. 2026.

Common questions

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Different perspectives on daylight saving time reflect conflicting interests where safety and retail industry proponents highlight benefits like reduced crime rates and increased consumer activity. Conversely, health experts and agriculture sectors, particularly dairy farming, emphasize negative impacts like health disruptions due to altered sleep patterns and decreased agricultural productivity caused by schedule shifts in animal care .

Daylight saving time impacts economic activities by extending daylight hours, which can boost industries reliant on outdoor activities, such as the golf and barbecue industries, which report increased profits due to extended evening hours . On the negative side, the Lost-Hour Economic Index notes that the time change costs the US economy $434 million nationally, due in part to disruptions in agriculture, such as dairy farming, where cows' milk production is affected by schedule changes .

Justification for maintaining daylight saving time centers on its positive effects, such as decreased crime and stimulated economic activity through extended daylight hours. However, calls for its abolition are supported by detrimental health impacts, including increased risk of heart attacks and productivity losses from disrupted sleep patterns. The economic output is further negatively affected by costs arising from agricultural disruptions, leading to a complex evaluation weighing communal safety and economic gains against health and productivity repercussions .

Arguments for continuing daylight saving time include enhanced safety with reduced crime rates due to increased ambient light in the evening, and economic benefits to industries like golf due to extended daylight hours. However, arguments against it highlight health risks with disrupted sleep patterns leading to negative consequences, reduced productivity from misaligned circadian rhythms, and economic costs such as decreased dairy production offsetting any daylight benefits .

Daylight saving time can adversely affect health by disrupting sleep patterns, which contradicts natural circadian rhythms and leads to negative health consequences. According to Brian Handwerk, changing sleep patterns by just one hour increases the risk of heart attacks by 10% on the Monday and Tuesday following the time change. Such disruptions compromise overall health safety .

Dairy farming practices exemplify the negative effects of daylight saving time on agricultural productivity because the time change disrupts cows' milking schedules, causing discomfort and affecting milk production. The physiological response involves slower adaptation to schedule changes, which affects the overall productivity of dairy operations .

Daylight saving time affects crime rates by reducing robberies by about 7% overall and 27% in the evening hours after the spring time change. The rationale is that most street crime occurs in the evening between 5 to 8 PM, and the additional ambient light during these high-crime hours makes it easier for victims and passers-by to identify potential threats and, subsequently, wrongdoers .

Daylight saving time influences productivity by encouraging more outdoor activities, with a 3% increase in people engaging in recreation instead of indoors activities like watching TV, which could lead to healthier lifestyles . However, as per German chronobiologist Till Roenneberg, the human circadian clock does not adjust to DST, resulting in decreased productivity and quality of life due to lack of synchronization, leading to tiredness and susceptibility to illness .

Chronobiological research indicates that the human circadian clock does not adapt to daylight saving time. This nonalignment leads to decreased productivity as individuals experience decreased quality of life, increased susceptibility to illness, and overall tiredness, since the endogenous circadian rhythm remains misaligned with the imposed time schedule .

Extended daylight hours during daylight saving time economically benefit industries reliant on outdoor activities, such as the golf industry, which reportedly profits $200 to $400 million for one month of DST, and the barbecue industry, which sees an increase of $150 million due to the availability of longer evening hours for leisure activities .

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