Is cursive becoming extinct?

published January 27, 2011

by the Stockton Sentinel,

Stockton, Kansas

            The news on Good Morning, America carried another sad story of one more thing that probably will go the way of the dinosaurs: teaching cursive writing in schools. Do you remember that special wide-lined paper with a bottom “base” line, a top “ceiling” line, and a dashed line in the middle? And if your pencil strokes dared to cross any of those lines at the wrong places, your teacher would circle the stray strokes with her red pen and then, with her most beautiful, controlled penmanship, would demonstrate exactly how she wanted your letters to look, returning it to you for a do-over. And for all her efforts and yours, how is your penmanship today? And how often do you use that skill?

            Cursive writing is increasingly something I do only when I send a note or sympathy card to someone, or scribble a grocery list. Writing in “long hand” or cursive does have one huge benefit though. Without the delete key (that I have already used many times in these few lines!) I think ahead and choose my words more carefully. I used to have a beautiful handwriting, but now, not so much. The problem is, I don’t often take that kind of care and extra time.

            It’s not hard to understand why students don’t see the relevance of learning or practicing handwriting. Generally taught in the third grade, cursive handwriting is already on the endangered list by junior high. And by the time teens are in high school, it would be easier for them to count the minutes they use a pen to communicate throughout the day than for them to count the number of text messages or tweets they send. Have you watched how fast a kid can “type” a text message on a phone? Why would they put time and effort into writing a message out by hand when it can be sent electronically in seconds?

            The news story on Good Morning, America reported that some schools in the U.S. have chosen not to teach handwriting, but to use that time instead on more relevant “hi-tech” life skills. But most students are already way ahead of their teachers in their abilities, usage and comfort level of all things techie.

            So as handwriting skills diminish and are no longer taught in school, will the ability to read cursive script also be lost? Will coming generations be able to appreciate and read historical documents or that inherited box of their grandparents’ love letters?

            Consider the other things that are lost as handwriting goes by the wayside. Do you get the same “warm fuzzy feeling” when you receive an email from a friend as you do when you get a handwritten note in your mailbox? I’m not talking about your electronic mailbox; I’m talking about that metal or plastic container that is perched on a post at the end of your driveway. What do you enjoy more: receiving an ecard or a Hallmark? We are losing the personal touch, all for the sake of being convenient and instantaneous.

            Apparently, we’re not supposed to care enough to send the very best anymore.