You may have seen this story about things the next generation will live without. (I know I forwarded it to at least a few people, and received it from two others.) Dixie and I were talking about it yesterday, and she surprised me with this fact.
“Do you know it’s true - they don’t teach cursive writing anymore? It’s not even a part of my kids’ school curriculum!”
At first it didn’t process that this was any big deal. I pointed out that while she prefers her beautiful feminine loops and curls, the closest I ever get to writing in cursive anymore is failing to pick up my pen between hurried printed letters.
“But, you DO sign your name! How are these kids going to even have a legal signature?”
Wow, um, good point! Maybe they practice signing like their favorite baseball players and musicians? Then again, if that’s the case, the situation may be worse than I thought. I haven’t seen a player sign his name legibly since Mickey Mantle.
“And, you know, I inquired more about the curriculum – I can’t believe I’m paying to send them to a private school and THIS is considered a good education now! They don’t teach kids how to write business letters or any letters at all! The school said that writing business letters will be outdated by the time these kids graduate.”
Are you kidding me?? I draft formal letters at least a couple times a month, and Dixie, who works with a lot of legal matters, drafts them almost daily. We’re talking about those letters that start with your return address and contact information in the upper right-hand corner and then the contact info of the addressee below that, and then format your letter in a formal style. You really mean to tell me that in 10 years there will never be a need for formal style of written communication of any kind? Maybe the transition explains why one of my local city council members recently sent an extremely crucial communication that started with the awkward and childish, “Dear Mayor, I hope you got my last email.”
Concerned that maybe Jonah and Lily were unintentionally being sent to some bizarre neo-hippie school, I asked a colleague who has kids around the same age about cursive. He said his school told him the same thing! He was clearly angry about this, and resorted to teaching his children cursive and the like at home.
Still, this seemed so hard to believe. I did some research to see how many people were uncomfortable with this shift, and found this article from the Boston Globe:
"It's a very disturbing problem," said Kate Gladstone of Albany, N.Y., who has a website specializing in handwriting improvement. "I see people in their 20s and 30s who cannot read cursive. If you cannot read all types of handwriting, you might find your grandma's diary or something from 100 years ago, and not be able to read it." There are practical concerns as well. Sometimes we don't have a computer, or the professor won't let us bring it to class to take notes. Or sometimes, as happened in New Orleans hospitals during Hurricane Katrina, computers lose power and medical orders and records have to be written out by hand.
Wait – people can’t even READ cursive anymore? Are you kidding me?
I love technology, but let’s not forget the basics! After all, we might accidentally leave our Smartphone at home for a day, or lose our purse, or break our laptop… and we shouldn’t be SO tied to these things that we would literally be lost without them.
Sincerely,
Samantha
(wink)
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