Is cursive handwriting slowly dying in America? | PBS NewsHour

 

"Many elementary schools across the United States have dropped cursive instruction altogether as increased testing, the implementation of Common Core State Standards and computers in the classroom take more time and resources. (The NewsHour will be airing a report on this soon)

 

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia use the Common Core’s English Language Arts standards. But a few states (California, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee among them) have recently moved to make cursive mandatory."

I do not have a problem with de-emphasizing cursive.

 

Other than signing documents I rarely use it.

I have literally never used (after being initially taught) cursive except to sign my name.

Cursive was used before the days of every home having a computer to write papers. Cursive was faster, but I can't recall the last time I wrote in cursive other than my signature

I do not have a problem with de-emphasizing cursive.

 

Other than signing documents I rarely use it.

 

This

Cursive was used before the days of every home having a computer to write papers. Cursive was faster, but I can't recall the last time I wrote in cursive other than my signature.

 

Now granted, I was in college in a time where laptops in class weren't necessarily standard issue for students, and tablets didn't yet exist....but having been a lifelong TERRIBLE cursive writer, I definitely wished I was better at cursive if only for the sake of taking notes.

 

Even nowadays when I attend meetings or business lectures where taking notes is useful and having a computer or tablet out in front of me either wasn't realistic or wasn't appropriate, I find myself wishing the architectural lettering that took over my handwriting as a result of my drafting classes in college was even half as easy to write as cursive.

 

Honestly, I think I'd pay a fairly decent stack of money for someone to teach me an actual shorthand course.

Now granted, I was in college in a time where laptops in class weren't necessarily standard issue for students, and tablets didn't yet exist....but having been a lifelong TERRIBLE cursive writer, I definitely wished I was better at cursive if only for the sake of taking notes.

 

Even nowadays when I attend meetings or business lectures where taking notes is useful and having a computer or tablet out in front of me either wasn't realistic or wasn't appropriate, I find myself wishing the architectural lettering that took over my handwriting as a result of my drafting classes in college was even half as easy to write as cursive.

 

Honestly, I think I'd pay a fairly decent stack of money for someone to teach me an actual shorthand course.

 

Just do like I did and develop your own, that only you can understand and (most of the time) read.

Just do like I did and develop your own, that only you can understand and (most of the time) read.

I developed my own but not by intention. I just have REALLY poor handwriting so it's ended up being what you describe.

It used to bother me a lot more that my children never used cursive much in school, I just couldn't fathom it. However, I now see that it's just not a part of their lives. It's still strange to me but as long as they can communicate effectively I guess that's what matters most. What still bothers me more is the use of calculators from very early grades. I hate that but that's another thread.

I voted print but that's not entirely true. I use some sloppy mess that's neither print or cursive if it's just for me. If someone else might have to read it I print EVERY TIME.

My wife is a whiz at shorthand. It amazes me how she can keep up and document meetings for different organizations we've been associated with. It seems she always gets appointed secretary.

Just do like I did and develop your own, that only you can understand and (most of the time) read.

 

That's what I did except it turned out I couldn't read it either.

I still take notes with a pen and notebook because it helps me remember better (and I use cursive even although my writing looks terrible at 53). I am not fast enough to use my tablet for notes and keep up with a lecture. This thread is funny to me because my wife and I were discussing this very topic over this past weekend. She is a teacher's assistant at a K-5 public school in Kenton County and she can verify that cursive writing is no longer taught. She is a bit old-school and comments that the students' printing is terrible and hard to read. She is dismayed that their spelling is also horrible because students text, tweet, and rely on auto-correct. I reminded her that anyone 35 and younger communicates a lot differently than we do.

I'm with the others and almost use a combination of print and cursive.

I have never in my life written anything in cursive that wasn't my signature or a requirement for an assignment. Perhaps you could add idle curiosity occasionally as I check to see if I even remember how. In the world of computers there is almost no need for it at all. If/when they come up with an alternate means of signing documents that becomes standard, it will die out entirely.