The Clash over Cursive
by Rebecca Lebowitz
1 Cursive is an art that is centuries old, but might the book of its history soon be closed? Cursive handwriting is beautiful. The graceful curves and elegant loops of cursive script have long been taught in school. In fact, during the seventeen hundreds, penmanship schools were established to educate master scribes. However, the popularity of formal handwriting is in decline. Fewer American school systems are requiring it to be taught in second and third grades, which is traditionally when students learn cursive. Some people support this trend, encouraging educators to teach more relevant skills, while others believe that the disappearance of cursive would be a devastating loss. So, should cursive writing continue to be taught in American schools?
2 Those in favor of teaching cursive see it as a link to the past. When students learn how to read and write cursive, they are able to read letters and important historical documents written in script. Older generations were taught to write using cursive almost exclusively. Without cursive lessons, young people might lose a link to the past, for example, the ability to read the Declaration of Independence and John Hancock's iconic signature at its end. Some even say that certain details in cursive express emotions in a way that printed text cannot.
3 Studying cursive might also help students learn. Some researchers claim that learning cursive helps young brains to grow. Teaching children to write letters in cursive might help them learn to read later on. States such as Tennessee, California, Georgia, and Massachusetts agree that teaching cursive in schools is important. They are going to continue teaching it in their classrooms.
4 Not everyone agrees that cursive should be taught in schools. States such as Indiana, Illinois, and Hawaii are making teaching cursive optional for a few reasons. Many people wonder whether cursive is a 21st-century skill. With the extensive use of technology for writing, such as smart phones, computers, and tablets, cursive might not be as important as typing. These devices form perfect letters, write in any font you like, and even check your spelling! Why learn how to write cursive when a computer can write for you?
5 Also, there may not be enough time for teaching cursive anymore. Teachers have a lot to teach in a limited amount of time. Thus, proponents of doing away with cursive in schools think that the time might be more wisely spent teaching keyboarding. Recently, new guidelines for what to teach, called the Common Core State Standards, have been developed. These standards do not require that cursive be taught in schools. They do, however, specify that students should learn how to use technology. Today, most people communicate through email or text messages. To some it seems impractical to learn a skill that children might never use once they graduate from high school.
6 States, school districts, individual schools, and teachers are still deciding whether or not cursive should be taught in classrooms. This debate probably won't be settled anytime soon, and so cursive will live on, at least for a while. A new voice for or against cursive might come from the students, themselves.