In the grand scheme of things, I know we have bigger fish to fry in the United States today. But this subject simply rubbed me the wrong way.
There has been a push in the past few years for some elementary schools to eliminate the teaching of cursive writing.
The artistic flow of the pen that actually marks individuality is diminishing ? viewed as less important and sometimes even in the way. Uniformity is king, perfectly shaped letters, just connect the dots.
When I first learned to write cursive, I practiced all the styles, swooped the letters and gave them life.
I received a calligraphy set for my 12th birthday and practiced the fonts with different sized tips and colors of ink.
According to an article by Megan Downs in Florida Today, Carl Brown, principal of Manatee Elementary in Viera, Fla. said, “With all the other subjects we must teach, we just don”t have the time to spend a lot of effort on cursive.”
Maybe in the future we will only have time to abbreviate in text talk. Maybe eventually we won”t have time to learn the English language at all.
It has become more important to ensure that children are technologically literate.
Brown is quoted in the article saying, “Kids just don”t write letters now. They send e-mails or text messages. … A lot of those old ways are going away. How many bills do you pay by writing a check anymore?”
I have a friend who sits with her 8-year-old after every holiday and helps him to handwrite thank-you letters to all of the people who gave him gifts. It”s meaningful and personal.
Last week during a business meeting, a woman told me, “My 32-year-old son sent me an e-card for my birthday. Man, that hurt,” she said. “I told him to take the time to go buy me a card and sit down and write something nice in it.”
In February of 1998 Auren Hoffman, who wrote a weekly column called “Summation,” had this to say, “My suggestion is to scrap cursive writing altogether. Stop wasting third-graders time when you could be teaching more math, spelling, reading, government or typing. Getting rid of cursive writing won”t make the world a significantly better place or solve world hunger or create lasting peace, but it will ensure that written documents will be more legible. It will be a very tiny step toward a more productive society ? and we won”t waste months of our children”s lives having to learn a handwriting style that is virtually useless.”
In conclusion he wrote: “Summation: stop teaching cursive writing in the classroom and stop encouraging people to write neatly in print.”
I respectfully disagree, even though I suppose a strong argument was offered.
While printing is meant to be uniform, cursive writing has personality. Sign your name, put your John Hancock here. There”s a timeless signature.
There may be dozens, even hundreds or thousands of people with your same name, but the way you sign it is your own.
It is possible that I am gripping tight to the past and my own joyful memories. I do oppose any action that reduces art and individuality.
Fifteen years after I graduated from high school, a note appeared where I worked. It simply said “Mandy” on the outside of the folded, lined yellow paper.
“Hey, that looks like Robin”s writing,” I said out loud. A coworker walked by and said, “Yeah, this woman named Robin came by and said she went to school with you.” Yep, her signature stood the test of time.
There are plenty of arguments stating that the teaching of cursive is just “not relevant in today”s world.”
But here”s a bit of food for thought: Imagine you ask your favorite athlete, musician or actor for an autograph and he/she responds with, “What”s that?”
Is it possible that we are practicing what is left of the lost language and hanging on to its origins toward its apocalyptic end? IDK. TTYL.
Mandy Feder is the Record-Bee managing editor. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32.
