It was an ordinary day. Checking out my Sunday News Paper's "Letters to the editor" page which is part of the LETTERS/OP-ED Section of the newspaper. One letter submitted by Lisa Garrett from East Earl Township caught my eye. Letter was titled...We don't need to teach cursive writing. Something I had never thought about in the past! And, just why don't we need to learn cursive writing I thought to myself. I had to learn it and it's only fair that students today should have to learn it. Make sense to you? Than, I began to think about it and I'm not quite sure how to think...now. I'm typing this story today on my laptop, which doesn't type in cursive! At least I don't think I can type in cursive! The letter to the editor that I had just read in my Sunday News was not in cursive. And, I had no trouble reading it. The letter began with....
It is with great amusement that I read of our state Legislature focusing on what really matters. Specifically, some lawmakers want to make the teaching of cursive writing mandatory for pubic schools, because of the complaints of a few grandparents. Let's be realistic. Children today are expected to learn more than ever. We keep adding more to the list of things that they need to be taught, and something must go. Why not cursive writing? Cursive resulted from the need to keep the quill pen on the parchment to keep the dipped ink from blotting so much. That made sense 500 years ago, but less sense since the invention of the printing press and then, especially, the ballpoint pen and computers. Printing is now prevalent. I would hazard that most people do not know how to use an abacus or slide rule anymore, because they have been replaced with the modern calculator. I would not want teachers wasting precious time on teaching the use of either. It is time to stop teaching cursive writing and the likewise obsolete Roman numerals and analog clocks. The world and technology move on. Our children, and their grandchildren will no longer use cursive. I barely use it anymore. And, if you want your grandchidren to help you with your smartphone, then it's best to send them a printed message that they can read. As far as future generations reading cursive, I am sure there is an app for that -- or that AI will be able to translate. Lisa Garrett, East Earl Township.
So...what do you think? I find it hard to say...but I believe Lisa is correct! I learned cursive writing in elementary school in the 1950s and don't think about it anymore. I just assumed that everyone knew how to write in cursive. But, I was recently reading a letter that my grandson wrote to me which was not in cursive. Perhaps he doesn't know how to write in cursive!!! Maybe he never learned to write in cursive! I was able to read it without any trouble! And...it didn't really matter to me. I just assumed his cursive writing wasn't his best way to communicate, and that was why he printed it. Many times I also print. My cursive isn't the best and when I don't want to make it hard for someone to read what I have just written, I'll do so by printing it. This story you are reading isn't in cursive, since I don't know how to write in cursive on my computer. I just assumed I could only use printed words! I grabbed my latest "Smithsonian" magazine from next to me and paged through it. Yep! All was printed! Even the mailing address on the front cover of the magazine was printed. Perhaps elementary schools should stop teaching cursive writing if they haven't already. One less subject that is needed which consumes quite a bit of your time to do if you are a young child. And...these old foggies who believe that cursive should still be taught in school should wise up and live in the present/future and not the past. I'm one old foggie who would vote for no more lessons in how to write in cursive. Seems it is obsolete! Amen! And...Thank You Lisa Garrett for your letter to the editor. The best letter today! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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