The history of daylight-saving time makes an interesting social studies lesson.

The idea was advanced by Benjamin Franklin in his day but was not seriously considered until more than 100 years later. Franklin wanted to conserve candles.

A zealous advocate for a time change was William Willett, a prominent English builder and outdoorsman. During his pre-breakfast horseback rides in the spring of 1905, he observed that Londoners slept through the best part of a summer day. Willett was also an avid golfer and disliked having to cut his round short because of approaching darkness.

He lobbied unsuccessfully for the time-change proposal until his death in 1915. On April 30, 1916, Germany and its World War I allies adopted Willett's idea as a war strategy.

Daylight-saving time is controversial. Not everyone likes it. Daylight-saving time can serve as a safety reminder to change out the batteries in the fire alarm device, some supporters say. Others maintain that the adjustment in time can complicate timekeeping (late arrivals to church being most noticeable) and can disrupt travel, billing, record-keeping, medical devices.

The adjustments we have to make range from minor to major, based on who we are and what our daily functions are.

One thing is for sure: The nation's 55 million schoolchildren and their 2.6 million teachers have experienced the effects of the change. Schoolchildren, their parents and their teachers know that it will take a minute or two to get used to doing things earlier in the morning.

By the way, a "minute" in a student's vernacular is much longer than the time it takes for the second hand of a clock to make its full rotation. Generally, children make the physical and mental adjustment after three to four days.

The National Sleep Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., offers a recommendation to ease the transition. It suggests that parents help their children adjust to the earlier arrival of wake-up time by having them go to bed earlier.

With the time change and warmer weather, most of us will become more active for the next seven to eight months. Children will be out and about, full of energy generated by the anticipation of spring and all its activities. Watch out for them at bus stops, along the highways, at the malls and at recreational centers. Protect them.

Dr. Frank Roberson is an education professional in South Carolina.