Is cursive writing, also known as handwriting a dying art? As our society becomes increasingly dependent on their handheld devices and personal computers we seem to move further away from one of our oldest forms of expression. Past generations of humans used writing to record our history and to communicate with each other. Picture if you will, William Shakespeare or Victor Hugo sitting next to a candle with an open flame, quill in hand, and ink bottle on the writing surface next to them. They will have been sitting there day after day, for weeks, months, or even years producing their great works. I suppose there might be something to be said about them using a keyboard. They may have produced even more wonderful works.
Recently, my siblings and I were going through the family trunk after the death of my father. His passing saddened us, but cheerful of the thought he had gone on to be with my mother. As we slowly went through the trunk, we came across some of our handwriting exercises from when we were in elementary school a long time ago. As I sit here and think about it now, the teacher tried to instruct me on how to make the letters legible, and more readable to other people. Somewhere in the last couple of years of my schooling, I guess I just gave up on the handwriting, it was very legible to others, or at least nobody ever said anything about it to me.
A few years after I got out of the Navy, I took a few drafting classes at the local junior college. By this point, my writing was strictly printed letters. These letters were very neat, just as my handwriting was when I was still doing that. When it came time to draw blueprints, I did them by hand. All the lettering needed to be capitalized. So I decided that this was going to be the way I would continue to make them—I still do to this day. It is my feeling now that even this type of writing will disappear.
Along Came The Computer
I don’t see the advent of the computer as the end of handwriting but as a step in that direction. What the computers and later on email brought was less need for people to communicate by handwritten letters. These changes were not immediately embraced by everyone, just as others have done with change throughout the history of mankind. Whether we embraced it or held it at arm’s length, the change would take place.
I bought my first computer in 1995 (anyone else remember Windows 95 and AOL). Computers have come a long way since then. Now we have these little devices that we carry around with us all the time, that are infinitely more powerful than that first desktop computer that I owned. But, with the advent of those smartphones came what I feel was the real beginning to the end of handwriting.
To Teach or Not To Teach
Is handwriting still being taught in elementary schools in the United States? The answer is “Yes it is”, but not in 100% of the schools. It appears that cursive is still being taught for the benefit of increased fine motor skills and memory. 1 2
Some states are discussing or have mandated a return to the use of cursive. School districts started to move away from the practice in favor of improving keyboarding skills. Is this a good option? I’m not so sure. I heard it joked that if you gave a set of handwritten instructions to some people of the younger generations, they may not be able to complete the task. “Why wouldn’t they be able to complete it? you ask because they may not have been taught to read cursive. This might be immediately funny to someone of my generation and knowledge base, but as people of younger generations might tell me, I won’t be around forever. I think this is a bad situation that should be rectified.
Some of you readers might call me a Luddite because I seem to be resistant to new things and change. I will remind those readers that my generation was answering phone calls on the one rotary telephone in their home and I bought my first computer 30 years ago this year. I fully embraced the use of that computer then and have more than one of them today. I digress, if handwriting goes the way of the Dodo bird, then that’s what was supposed to happen. It just makes me wonder if this move to possibly erase handwriting (pun intended) is for the best.
As for myself, I will still be handwriting words until I am no longer able to.
So my fine readers, how about you? Where do you stand on this issue? Are you still experiencing writer’s cramps from long sessions of journaling, or have you fully embraced the use of the keyboard for all your writing needs? As usual, I hope you enjoyed my rant, and thank you for stopping by to spend some of your time with me.
Take care.
1) Should Arizona schools still teach cursive writing?
Cathryn Creno
The Republic | azcentral.com July 27, 2014
2) 5 reasons kids still need to learn handwriting (no, AI has not made it redundant)
Lucinda McKnight, Maria Nicholas
The Conversation June 6, 2023