Should cursive writing be required? A N.C. bill would mandate it

[struggle4progress]

Posted by Valerie Strauss on February 23, 2013 at 10:14 am

... A bill actually called “Back to Basics” in the North Carolina House of Representatives would make cursive writing part of the curriculum for elementary school students who are, instead, expert at texting and tweeting and doing everything else on a screen, the Charlotte Observer reported ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/23/should-cursive-writing-be-required-a-n-c-bill-would-mandate-it/

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Good.

[CalFresh]

2. no.

[TheMastersNemesis]

3. If Not Mandated Cursive Writing Should Be Taught

I know most people do not put much stock into it but from a handwriting analysis standpoint it is important.
Cursive writing helps in critical and connected thinking. The printing I see today is atrocious and disconnected.

[longship]

6. You've never seen my cursive.

It's horrible, and always has been. That's why I have printed for decades. At least that's intelligible. I switched while at university and have never looked back.

Nota bene: I am not advocating to do away with cursive but it is a talent that not everybody has. I am neutral on this bill.

[mwooldri]

12. I agree it should be taught too.

Joined-up handwriting is conspicuously absent in these parts. However accommodations will need to be made for some students. Some kids have problems with any form of handwriting at all. For that, the student may use a computer to do their work. But we shouldn't let these kids down either - they should have some handwriting skills as they are still needed and even relatively readable "chicken-scratch" will work Ok. Someone else posted that cursive can be useful in the restaurantservice trade but I believe it is more about speed and readability, no matter if cursive or not. Some places have order by number and I'm not talking fast food joints. I also believe that waitstaff would have some kind of shorthand. For this the younger wait staff would have a leg-up since this does resemble txt-spk , e.g. #21 FF ATW would mean menu item 21 with French fries, prepared all the way i.e. everything on it.

[Still Sensible]

4. I have no problem with this

particularly if coupled with a solid English program.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Yes

.

[Downwinder]

7. Training for jobs available.

Without cursive, how is the wait staff going to write up an order?

[barbtries]

8. i think that children should know how to write in cursive.

i have also heard, though i don't know if it's true, that it is helpful for brain development. my youngest learned it and he's 21 now. i didn't even know that they'd stopped teaching it until my niece posted on facebook that her daughter couldn't read the comments left by her teacher on a paper because they were in cursive and she hadn't been taught it.
perhaps some studies should be conducted to determine whether learning cursive is helpful, necessary or useless.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. LMSP kicking...n/t

[Ednahilda]

10. Absolutely!!

Beyond the eye-hand coordination that cursive requires, the best way to learn to read cursive writing is to learn to write it. Think of all the old documents, family letters and notations on the backs of old photos that these kids will not be able to read on their own.

It is inevitable that the descendants of immigrants will no longer speak or read the language of their ancestors and one of my greatest enjoyments is translating personal letters and notes on photos into English for people who can no longer read them. Not being able to read cursive would be the same handicap - but in English!

[CRK7376]

11. It's crept up on us that's for sure

My kids, two in college and one in high school don't write in cursive.The boys, bothin college can barely sign their names to documents. It's painful to watch them try to sign a check or something. But they print very well as does my daughter. As a former high school teacher, 13 years in the classroom, I prefered having the kids print than write. It was very difficult reading what many of them wrote, but I understand why so many of them printed. With email and txting these days it's not surprising that writing has become a lost art. Still, as a Soldier that has deployed where email and electronic media are not available, writing and receiving letters from home is still the highlight of the day. But it does make me wonder if my kids understand what I write or do they just get their Mom to read the letters....never really thought about it before. I always look for the "Any Servicemen" letters written by school kids and scout groups while I'm deployed and respond to them with a description of the people and culture where I'm working, what it's like etc...thank them for their letters and support. Now that I think about it, I would always write in cursive my responses to them. How many of them can read cursive, how many of their teachers read cursive...? Oh well. I would be glad to see cursive reintroduced to the classroom, but I'm not losing sleep over the fact that kids can't read or write cursive. It's looking more like a lost art every day.