Is cursive a lost art?

A huge debate is taking place in some circles regarding the teaching of cursive writing. The entire state of Indiana recently jettisoned cursive in favor of teaching keyboarding, noting that keyboarding is now required as part of the national common core standards (which Illinois has adopted).  They’re the latest among many states to do so.

The comments following a recent online article in ASCD (a national education organization) had me scratching my head. I can understand that some people have difficulty letting go of something they consider a “life” skill, but I was surprised at the number of people who confused cursive writing with printing. A typical rant was “How will the children of today ever be able to write a thank you note?” Can’t they print it? No one is recommending that children forgo learning how to print.

Elmhurst schools have not yet taken the step to get rid of cursive, but if/when they do, they won’t be abandoning the teaching of handwriting (commonly called “printing”). Teaching the formation of letters is integrally tied to learning how to read and write. As a result, children will still be able to communicate through writing just as they do now. In fact, ask some middle schoolers if they use cursive writing, and you’ll probably find that the majority prefer to print. Middle schools haven’t required their students to use cursive writing for quite some time.

I did an unofficial survey last weekend as my husband and I drove through several business districts on our way to a wedding. I wanted to see how many signs were in cursive. The answer?  None. I’ll go out on a limb here and guess that the reason why signs are in capitals or a combination of capital and lower case letters is because it’s easier to read. Can you imagine highway signs or street signs in cursive? Tough to read.

Cursive was developed to increase the speed with which one could write. Back in the really old days, writers had no choice but to write out everything “long hand.” Typewriters weren’t invented until the mid-1800s. Improving speed continued to be a concern, and the electric typewriter was a godsend for writers and typists alike. Now we have computer keyboards and touchpads that allow us to quickly put our thoughts into words to communicate with others.

Some people argue that, without cursive instruction, children won’t be able to develop a signature. I have two thoughts about that. First, I think kids will be able to develop a signature based on their printing, particularly as they get older and write faster. Secondly, I wonder how important the signature will be as our world becomes even more dependent on technology. Clicking on boxes, agreeing to terms, exchanging money online via PayPal or credit cards are things we do now. It’s hard to imagine what’s in store for us in the future, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be dependent on everyone knowing how to write in cursive.

Others wonder what will happen to a society where no one can read cursive. My guess is that, in 10 years when today’s kindergartners are in high school, there won’t be much cursive to read. Sure, historical documents will be tough to decipher, but let’s face it: they’re not that easy to read even if you know cursive. Future historians will have to teach themselves how to read cursive, which I’m betting they can do in an hour.

My mother’s generation literally filled notebooks with penmanship exercises—lines of connected, slanted lines and overlapping circles.  My generation simply practiced the letters over and over. My children’s generation did the same, but probably spent a lot less time on it. Today’s students generally learn cursive in second grade and have some additional practice in third grade—but that’s about it. Time devoted to cursive has shrunk over the years, so it’s not surprising that it may soon disappear.

The future always comes. It’s the job of educators to ensure that our children are prepared for it. Spending hours learning a skill that as adults we rarely use takes valuable instructional time away from other important subjects (such as learning how to write to express one’s thoughts and ideas).

Those of us who spent hours upon hours learning cursive (count me among them—I wanted to write in cursive so badly that I asked my mom to teach me when I was 5 years old) have to let this one go.  And if you really want your children to learn cursive, you can teach them.

Note: It would be been fun to post this blog in cursive--I wonder how many people would have taken the time to read it.