Should We Stop Changing the Clocks? It’s About More Than Convenience
… What We Should Measure Going Forward
If provinces move to permanent daylight saving time, they should not treat the decision as finished. They should commit to gathering evidence afterward, especially on how darker winter mornings affect students, families, and workers.
School boards, public-health units, and provincial ministries could track:
Absenteeism and late arrivals, particularly during the darkest weeks of winter.
Student alertness, fatigue, and well-being, using anonymous staff, parent, and student feedback.
Traffic and pedestrian safety around schools, bus stops, and rural routes.
Winter road-safety data, including collisions during morning and afternoon commuting periods, pedestrian and cyclist incidents, school-zone incidents, and crashes involving snow, slush, or ice.
Effects on adolescents, whose sleep patterns already shift later and who may be especially vulnerable to early, dark morning commutes.
Impacts on shift workers, outdoor workers, and families with early childcare or work routines.
Before Everyone Runs Out the Door… One question. One connection.
Years ago, someone shared a simple family tradition with me that I’ve never forgotten.
Every morning, before everyone heads out the door, each person answers one question:
“What is one thing you’re looking forward to today?”
Everyone answers.
Not just the kids.
The adults too.
Maybe it’s something at school. Maybe it’s seeing a friend. Maybe it’s a meeting. Maybe it’s recess.
Then everyone heads out the door.
But the conversation doesn’t end there.
At dinner, they ask the follow-up:
“How did that thing you were looking forward to go?”
Maybe it went wonderfully. Maybe it didn’t happen. Maybe it was a complete disaster.
And that’s okay.
Everything is on the table.
I love this simple tradition because it isn’t really about the question.
It’s about what the question creates. It creates a reason to talk.
It tells children:
What happens in your day matters to me.
Where Literacy and Well-Being Meet
I remember a Grade 3 student whose behaviour initially appeared to be the problem. She was avoiding work. She was finding ways not to participate. On the surface, some of her behaviours could easily have been interpreted as defiance, disengagement, or simply not wanting to do the work. But when we looked more closely, we discovered something important: She wasn't reading at grade level.
Think about that for a moment. If you were repeatedly asked to do something you didn't feel you were good at, wouldn't you find a way to avoid it? Most of us would. We don't naturally run toward the things that make us feel unsuccessful. We avoid them. We find distractions. We make excuses. We do what we can to protect ourselves from feeling like we can't do what everyone else seems to be able to do. For this student, assessment helped us understand what was underneath the behaviour. had several areas of literacy that needed to be addressed, including significant foundational difficulties with phonological awareness. Once we understood that, her behaviour looked very different. It wasn't simply a child who "wouldn't" do the work. It was a child who couldn't yet do the work successfully - and had found ways to avoid being put in that position. That distinction matters. It changed the question from: "How do we stop this behaviour?" to: "What is this child telling us, and what does she need next?"That is where literacy and well-being meet.
Looking at the Whole Child
Learning to read is complex. Children need strong foundational word-reading skills, but they also need oral language, vocabulary, knowledge, comprehension, and opportunities to use language in meaningful ways. And they need to believe they can learn. When a child experiences success, we often see more willingness to try. a child has the tools to be successful, frustration can decrease. And when a child begins to see themselves as a reader, that identity can become powerful. This is why our conversations about literacy need to extend beyond test scores and reading levels. The question isn't simply: "Can this child read?" We also need to ask: "What is this child experiencing as a learner?"