A few short years ago I would’ve read an article about how some schools no longer teach cursive handwriting and just lost it. I would have been reduced to a jibbering, drooling mess of serious rage because, to me, something like that is important. At least, on the surface, being able to write in proper cursive is a sign that a student is transitioning from learning how to share thanks to fuzzy puppets to getting a legitimate education. Then I gave the issue some actual thought.
Do I ever write anything in cursive for someone else to read? Very rarely. When I do write it, can they actually read it? If they’re lucky, they can figure it out. Have I been in a situation (outside of high school) in which someone said, “If you don’t write in cursive, you’re going to fail?” No. Never. In fact, I’ve gotten more work thanks to my typing speed than I ever have my penmanship.
So… why are we wasting time on teaching cursive again? Don’t get me wrong, I love the way it looks and if I had my druthers everyone would write that way, but I would much rather children learn spelling and grammar instead of text speak. Sorry, cursive writing; you had a good run, but you’re a dinosaur. All kids these days need to learn is how to make a distinctive autograph of some sort and then they can move on to geometry and typing class.
Tags: handwriting, cursive writing, manuscript, writing, education, school, teaching handwriting, Charleston, West Virginia, Kelli Davis