Cursive Handwriting Getting Erased as Schools Teach Typing Over Script

by Honey Berk (Subscribe to Honey Berk's posts)
Jan 21st 2011 9:00AM

Filed under: In The News, Education: Big Kids

Writing things out by hand? Don't make us LOL. Credit: Getty

With the mass adoption of text messaging as a form of communication over the past 10 years, educators and linguists have lamented the butchering of the English language by the younger generation, what with its abbreviations, acronyms and all manner of "text-speak."

Yet, while many of us have learned to decipher our kids' text messages and really do understand what GR8, BTW and LOL mean, a new threat to the written word has been identified.

Cursive handwriting has been omitted from the Common Core State Standards, the new curriculum standard that more than 40 states adopted last summer, the Associated Press reports.

Educators in Georgia may start using the new standards in schools as early as the next school year. However, Matt Cordoza, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Education, tells the AP that teachers and administrators from across the state will meet in March to decide whether to amend the standards to retain cursive writing.

Typically taught in third and fourth grade, cursive is already disappearing in some classrooms. With students widely using computers or text messages instead of hand-writing their communications, teachers are choosing to spend less time teaching script, the news service says.

Even when handwritten assignments are required, many students reportedly prefer to use printed block letters instead of script, Ellen Jackson, a teacher at Clarke Middle School in Athens, Ga., tells the Athens Banner-Herald.

"A lot of my students over the years have stopped being able to read cursive writing, so when I write on the white board, I have to make sure to write in print because they can't read it," Jackson, who has taught English for 20 years, tells the newspaper.

Though cursive is still a requirement in Georgia, many teachers say they don't have as much time to spend on cursive handwriting lessons, and that standardized tests given to elementary school students don't measure how well they can write in script.

"You try to squeeze handwriting in anywhere you can," Lisa Lyles, a third grade teacher at Gaines Elementary School in Athens, Ga., tells the AP. "Unfortunately, the state has so many other standards that something like handwriting has gotten to the point where we don't have enough time in the day."

Those who favor keeping cursive in the curriculum say it helps kids learn how to read and communicate. However, the widespread use of computers has forced students to learn to type at the time they would be learning to write script.

Yet, more than 80 percent of written work in classrooms is still done by hand, Kathleen Wright, a national product manager for Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of education writing materials, tells the AP.

"Students need to become fluent in writing, and be able to write fast and automatic," Wright tells the news service. "What I'm hearing is these kids are missing the practice they need in handwriting instruction between second grade and middle school and their skills decline."

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ReaderComments (Page 6 of 10)

Add Your Comments

3-04-2011 @ 2:18PM

Uly said...

No, you don't. I don't know how that silly myth started, but it's simply untrue.

1-24-2011 @ 12:33PM

Dianne said...

I only write in cursive when I handwrite something. My cursive is very pretty I put a lot of time into being able to write it well. I've discovered that a lot of people my age (28) can't read cursive. Whenever they see something I've written they complain that they can't read it. I think that children need to learn to write both block letters and cursive. I learned both writing styles as well as touch typing and how to proof my own papers. There's no reason why kids of today can't learn it. I think that schools are getting lazy. What good is a student that can't write properly?

1-24-2011 @ 12:30PM

TED said...

IF THEY AREN'T TESTED, WHY TEACH IT?

I GUESS THAT'S THE LOGIC USED BY OVERWORKED AND HARASSED TEACHERS.

1-24-2011 @ 12:53PM

bluedun said...

The total dumbing down of America. Some schools are graduating seniors who can't even read atheir diplomas, thanks to the teachers unions, and parents who simply don't care. Welcome to the new thiurd world U.S.

1-24-2011 @ 12:38PM

Candy said...

My cursive is horrible. My mother's is beautiful. My writing is more of a mashup between print and cursive. It doesn't look like a child is writing, but if I were to write in cursive it would look like a childs writing. I think cursive should be taught, and let the child decide for themselves later which they should use.

1-24-2011 @ 12:37PM

Amanda said...

This is one example of why I homeschool my kids to supplement the public school education! I learned to write in cursive in third grade, yet I saw my older daughter getting a somewhat accelerated education in subjects and NOT learning to write in cursive despite being in the third grade now! Sorry, but cursive writing is still an integral part of our education today, even if more people prefer to type emails on the computer than write actual letters! How are you going to sign a contract for anything? How are you going to write out a check? How are you going to keep up with a teacher in high school or professor in college when you're trying to take notes as fast as they talk using print? It's NOT going to happen, people!

Believe it or not, people DID manage to write in cursive and do well for centuries, even if their writing looked like chicken scratch! I'm darned if that's going to end in our family on MY watch! The school system may be getting dumbed down more and more, but that's all the more reason for us to fight tooth and nail to prevent it from being so!

How are you going to sign your name? However you like. There is no law saying you must use any particular style of handwriting to sign your name.

How are you going to take fast notes? Well, if that's so valuable, why not take the time to learn proper shorthand?

susan said...

i used to love watching my mom write letters and send christmas cards. i remember not being able to wait until i could write in cursive like her :) it was so pretty and elegant

1-24-2011 @ 12:40PM

Frank said...

The American Educational System is why we are falling further and further behind in the Global Economies. Our kids can't read or count, now they won't be able to read cursive either. Why don't we just have them learn one letter....the letter X. That way when they have to sign for anything they can at least put their mark on something. Soon typing will be the least of our worries as we become the second world nation.

1-24-2011 @ 12:51PM

the real problem with the "america is falling behind in schooling" argument is NONE of these other countries REQUIRE kids to go through a system that everyone learns at the same speed! china and all DON'T expect EVERY child to be university bound like we do here! they still have very good and active tech schools and apprentiship programs. it's also so very EASY to have incredible test scores across the board when you have a homogenous pupil population. do you HONESTLY believe that the far east countries would have NEAR the success rate if THEY had to take in illiterate alien children all the time? so the test scores drop, but i actually PREFER being a hodgepodge nation to a lock step nation. how about you?

1-24-2011 @ 12:46PM

Sheila said...

they need to learn to at least sign their names as in signature...

1-24-2011 @ 1:04PM

Jackie said...

Not only is my high school senior's son cursive just AWFUL (and he's an honor student...no difference), it is almost embarassing to watch him sign his name. It was taught in third grade, but obviously never emphasized in any way. In addition, I don't know if others haven noticed, but he had absolutely NO IDEA how to address an envelope. Where the stamp goes, return address, addressee name, etc. I had to teach him this as a seventeen year old. I know these skills may be passe, but they still need to be learned. Yes, children are master texters/keyboarders, but can they spell without the spell check function? Do they even know parts of speech? None of this seems to be measured anymore. It is all about the mastery tests. That's my two cents worth...

1-24-2011 @ 1:09PM

luqe110 said...

This is America.We recognize ourselves as being the best most knowing of all the spiecies on the planet. Who needs to write?
Try the teachers unions, if you want the real reasons we are nolonger even a small factor when it comes to the education systems other nations have. India for one with all it's people problems puts us to shame when it comes to educating it's people. America with all it's tiresome rhetoric on telling the rest of the world just how they should live, is nolonger listened too by anyone with half a brain.We are unable to handle our own problems much less those of anyone else.

Heather said...

I think it's like the idea of velcro sneakers for young children . . yes it's easier, but you still want them to understand how to tie their laces!

1-24-2011 @ 3:55PM

Margaret said...

I think that is absolutely terrible that some schools are not teaching cursive! I love cursive and sometimes I do use it, and when I am older, if my children's school does not teach cursive, I will teach them it myself.

1-24-2011 @ 1:14PM

Lindsey said...

How about we teach our children to speak ENGLISH instead of teaching them a different way to write it? Schools are forcing our kids to learn foreign languages when they can't even speak our own language. If one more kids says "ain't" or "Y'all" then those kids should repeat English class not waste time on which way to write. Whether you like it or not computers are our future and our present. No one writes checks anymore and everyone I know signs there name as fast and without thinking that you can't read it to even tell if it's cursive or not. There's plenty more to worry about in our school systems than cursive.

1-24-2011 @ 3:45PM

I am 14 years old and learned cursive when I was in 3rd grade, and I STILL use cursive, in fact, I absolutely LOVE writing in cursive. So isisreptiles, cursive should definately NOT "go to the way of the dinosaurs," and I will not let it.

1-24-2011 @ 3:30PM

redd said...

I'm left handed and was pretty much "left" on my own. I'm 55 years
old and all the handwriting teachers at that time were right handed.
They actually tried to make me write with my right hand. To
compensate they had me hold my hand at an odd position and turn my
paper at an odd angle so my writing slanted the same as my right
handed classmates.

I learned to hate it and went back to printing as soon as allowed.

Anyone other lefties with the same experience?

1-24-2011 @ 1:29PM

RaeAnn said...

My oldest is will be 18 in August and he was briefly taught cursive in grade school but yes the rely more on texting, email and computers. He was ALWAYS allowed to use a computer to type his papers and for tests. And for this at 17 going on 18 his spelling is at a 4th grade level (Thanks spellcheck!) And he can't sign his name to a legal paper because he only knows how to print. This is the education my tax dollars are paying for!

1-24-2011 @ 1:36PM

kelly said...

Here is another example of dumming down America. "Sure why not get rid od cursive writing, why not get rid of math, get rid of history too while we are at it". This is sick and I am suprised at the number of comments who have said, "it's worthless". So you grow up printing letters like a little child would? I'm glad I am not you then. Our kids should be coming out of 1st grade knowing all letters and starting cursive. Geez, child in other coutries are WAY ahead of ours and we just seem to be ok with taking it slow and not pushing the kids learn more at a faster rate in order to stay ahead of kids in other countries. I was a teacher for years and had to get out of education because of all the stupid politics and lack of education the students were obtaining. And the rules the districts were pushing down on the teachers. Only teach to some stupid standard test? That takes away from all the wonderful knowledge you want to teach them or all the different ways they can apply it into life. But cursive is an important achievement and should not be tossed out.

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