Do we need to teach cursive writing?

[BlkHawk]

Over on Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/14/post-script-parents-lawmakers-fear-cursive-becoming-lost-art/

Apparently some parents and politicians are upset that high school students can't read cursive. Personally I don't see the point anymore. The only possible use would be a signature, and from my memory of working a register and checking credit card receipts, none of those signatures were legible.

Every high school used to teach short hand at one point, and I'm pretty sure almost no one bothers with that any more.

 

[Mr_Stiffy]

Every time I have to handwrite something, I do it in block capitals, just using larger capitals for the starts of sentences and proper nouns, because one of the most frustrating things in the real life workplace is receiving a handwritten note or something annotated that you're supposed to act on, but you can't read the other fucker's handwriting.

Good riddance I say. Unless everyone learns to write as beautifully as Ace, of course.

 

[Jagger69]

Obsolete skill. Is of no consequence in this day and age. I never use cursive unless writing my signature as was already mentioned. Let it go by the wayside.

 

[feller469]

My cursive was so illegible that teachers requested I print. I was ahead of the curve.

 

[BlkHawk]

Every time I have to handwrite something, I do it in block capitals, just using larger capitals for the starts of sentences and proper nouns, because one of the most frustrating things in the real life workplace is receiving a handwritten note or something annotated that you're supposed to act on, but you can't read the other fucker's handwriting.

Good riddance I say. Unless everyone learns to write as beautifully as Ace, of course.

I agree on the notes. I remember reading that it isn't called cursive in the UK, but run together, or something like that. Is that true?

 

[lurkingdirk]

Here's an idea: let's teach children to write. Then, just as they're mastering that, let's tell them to completely fucking disregard everything we've taught them about writing, and give them a new system of writing to learn.

So stupid. Learn to write once, then spend the rest of your life using a keyboard. Skip cursive, it is of no use to anyone.

 

[Mr_Stiffy]

I remember reading that it isn't called cursive in the UK, but run together, or something like that. Is that true?

We pretty much just call it handwriting. At my school we called it "joined-up writing" because I went to a school for dribbling spastics.

 

[SabrinaDeep]

Let's be all the same. Let's drop everything that has no apparent use. All good. Then don't complain that life is boring. Next step will be to stop teaching writing tout-court. There are keyboard you know. WHo gives a fuck about writing. Or Reading. Or eating good. Or spending3 mins petting your partner before shoving it in. Or having any kind of verbal conversation, for what it matters: there is Twitter, and emails and FB.

Learning is not always just about utility. Learning gives you choices, you know? There will always be someone good at cursive writing and s/he will have more chances than you have in life. Learning never hurts. You never know when you need what you know. But you often wish you knew something you don't. My 2 cents.

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

Obsolete skill. Is of no consequence in this day and age. I never use cursive unless writing my signature as was already mentioned. Let it go by the wayside.

Here's an idea: let's teach children to write. Then, just as they're mastering that, let's tell them to completely fucking disregard everything we've taught them about writing, and give them a new system of writing to learn.

So stupid. Learn to write once, then spend the rest of your life using a keyboard. Skip cursive, it is of no use to anyone.

 

[Will E Worm]

Do we need to teach cursive writing?

Yes

 

[Ace Bandage]

I was taught cursive writing in 4th grade. We practiced the hell out of it for two years. When I reached 6th grade, nobody gave a fuck how you wrote anything anymore. You could use print or cursive, it didn't matter. In high school, same story. If you wanted to print, go for it. Why did I spend two years learning it only to never use it again? What purpose did that serve? All I got out of it was how to sign my name. If you're going to teach a skill, and you want people to value it and use it, then they have to see some worth in it. The skill needs to be reinforced.

Is it a valuable skill? Debatable. Being great at cursive isn't going to get you a job or give you any advantages in life. I've had to use cursive writing once since 6th grade. After I graduated college, I had to take a proficiency exam in English/Language Arts called the Praxis II to make sure that I was knowledgeable enough in the subject to teach it to secondary school students. The very last portion of the test was an exam portion that had to be written in cursive. I remember sitting at the testing center and saying aloud, "You gotta be fucking kidding me." I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but I remembered enough of it to satisfactorily complete the exam. What was the point? Why did I have to write in cursive? Being able to write in cursive is not a standard in the state of Indiana for grades 6-12. The state does not require us to teach it at all. So there really wasn't any rationale to testing teachers on how well they could write in cursive. It's not like I was going to be teaching it to my students.

If you want to know the sad truth, it's this: I have sophomores in high school who cannot sign their name. They don't know or can't remember cursive well enough to sign their own fucking names. So whatever system we have in place isn't working. Either go all out, make it a priority, and emphasize it throughout school. Or make sure students can sign their names and be done with it. Personally, I'd like to see it dropped completely... once they can sign their names.

 

[BlkHawk]

Sadly there are high school students who can't read this touching missive. :crying:

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

I don't believe I'd associate with people who couldn't read or write cursive, except maybe Adam Sandler.

 

[bobjustbob]

When did a pen on a piece of paper become obsolete? Do I now need to have a full lexicon of emoticons to express myself? Do we still need to teach Ebonics? Not all communications can be done electronically. I depend upon hand written correspondences. Drop a note on a desk or pin it up. It doesn't get lost if the battery runs out. A hand written list of things to do can be carried and physically get checked off.

Hand printing can be just as difficult to read as cursive. I see many people that print in graffiti. I don't think a standard for handwriting is so bad. We are distinguished by our handwriting but lets still teach it to make it understandable by all.

 

[RASQ]

Obsolete skill. Is of no consequence in this day and age. I never use cursive unless writing my signature as was already mentioned. Let it go by the wayside.

This.

 

[BlkHawk]

If they are going to teach it I would rather see something like Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting (BFH) be taught. It is a joined-up script so it has the speed of traditional cursive, but the letter forms remain the same as block printing, so a kid doesn't have to learn additional forms. It is still legible for those of us who learned traditional cursive.

An example of it is at the bottom of the linked page.

http://www.bfhhandwriting.com/about

It has a rather nice style in my opinion.

 

[Stephen1956]

One of the few "A" grades I received in elementary school (4th grade) was in handwriting. Miss Whitby, a beautiful, tall brunette was my teacher. I still write cursive in letters to my parents. I was "pen pals" for two years, writing cursive letters to my future wife. Cursive writing, like gym class are ghosts from the past.

 

[Mr_Balls]

My cursive was/is awful.
If we stop teaching cursive in schools than who will do tattoos?
How about only doing graffiti in cursive?

 

[Maggie Green]

I have always hated cursive since I'm a lefty and it was always more difficult for me to learn. I don't see the point in it, we need to teach kids how to spell since autocorrect has dumbed everyone down.

 

[Mr_Stiffy]

Writing in cursive gives me retrospective erections over Miss Whitby.

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