Cursive - Teach It Or Don't?

[Faadio]

Cursive sounds very much like cursing. Coincidence? I think not.

[Old Tyrannia]

Cursive is the proper way to write English. It's both a more efficient way of writing and more aesthetically pleasing than block print. I always write in cursive, and whilst my regular script is pretty unintelligible to anyone who isn't me I can write very clearly whilst still joining the letters if what I'm writing has to be understood by others. Removing it from the curriculum seems to me to be a symptom of the education system "dumbing down" and catering to lazy students. Obviously if a student has a particular reason for finding cursive difficult, as some posters in this thread have mentioned, exceptions should be made; but otherwise it should be compulsory. I think schools should teach shorthand, as well- it's a very useful skill.

I'm originally from Florida and every person under 30 I've ever met only writes in print.

Guess it might just be cultural then. The only thing I've seen people ever write in print was their family name and it's because it's a convention to make sure people don't mistake a letter reading it.

I suspect not teaching cursive is a largely American thing. In my experience it's very much the norm here in the UK to write in cursive as well; I do know people who prefer to write in non-cursive, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

[Saiwania]

Hell yes people should learn cursive. Although writing cursive letters or documents isn't important anymore for the most part. People very rarely do this in the digital age. It is only truly important to write your signature. The people who're too lazy to write a legible signature and just make an illegible scribble, that pisses me off. I can't be the only one who minds.

I think cursive can be taught in just one week or a few days at most. In only one or two afternoons if not going in depth. You only need to know how to write your name to sign legal documents or so forth.

[Altion]

Hell yes people should learn cursive. Although writing cursive letters or documents isn't important anymore for the most part. People very rarely do this in the digital age. It is only truly important to write your signature. The people who're too lazy to write a legible signature and just make an illegible scribble, that pisses me off. I can't be the only one who minds.

I think cursive can be taught in just one week or a few days at most. In only one or two afternoons if not going in depth. You only need to know how to write your name to sign legal documents or so forth.

Many of the 'lazy' people, or at least some, probably have a disorder like Dysgraphia, which is often mistaken for the person in question being lazy. Although I can understand why cursive would be more aesthetically pleasing for some.

Cursive is the proper way to write English. It's both a more efficient way of writing and more aesthetically pleasing than block print. I always write in cursive, and whilst my regular script is pretty unintelligible to anyone who isn't me I can write very clearly whilst still joining the letters if what I'm writing has to be understood by others. Removing it from the curriculum seems to me to be a symptom of the education system "dumbing down" and catering to lazy students. Obviously if a student has a particular reason for finding cursive difficult, as some posters in this thread have mentioned, exceptions should be made; but otherwise it should be compulsory. I think schools should teach shorthand, as well- it's a very useful skill.

Guess it might just be cultural then. The only thing I've seen people ever write in print was their family name and it's because it's a convention to make sure people don't mistake a letter reading it.

I suspect not teaching cursive is a largely American thing. In my experience it's very much the norm here in the UK to write in cursive as well; I do know people who prefer to write in non-cursive, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

I live in the UK, and my infant and junior schools never taught cursive. Although they tried to force me to write with my right hand when I'm left-handed when I was in Year 3... although they stopped after receiving a very angry phone call from my parents.

[Ghost Land]

Cursive is the proper way to write English. It's both a more efficient way of writing and more aesthetically pleasing than block print. I always write in cursive, and whilst my regular script is pretty unintelligible to anyone who isn't me I can write very clearly whilst still joining the letters if what I'm writing has to be understood by others. Removing it from the curriculum seems to me to be a symptom of the education system "dumbing down" and catering to lazy students. Obviously if a student has a particular reason for finding cursive difficult, as some posters in this thread have mentioned, exceptions should be made; but otherwise it should be compulsory. I think schools should teach shorthand, as well- it's a very useful skill.

Guess it might just be cultural then. The only thing I've seen people ever write in print was their family name and it's because it's a convention to make sure people don't mistake a letter reading it.

I suspect not teaching cursive is a largely American thing. In my experience it's very much the norm here in the UK to write in cursive as well; I do know people who prefer to write in non-cursive, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

"Proper" according to whom?

[SD_Film Artists]

It can be faster and prettier than printed letters, but other than that it's an outdated, sometimes unclear method which perpetuates arbitrary discrimination against those who didn't learn it.

[Lillorainen]

Cursive is the proper way to write English. It's both a more efficient way of writing and more aesthetically pleasing than block print. I always write in cursive, and whilst my regular script is pretty unintelligible to anyone who isn't me I can write very clearly whilst still joining the letters if what I'm writing has to be understood by others. Removing it from the curriculum seems to me to be a symptom of the education system "dumbing down" and catering to lazy students. Obviously if a student has a particular reason for finding cursive difficult, as some posters in this thread have mentioned, exceptions should be made; but otherwise it should be compulsory. I think schools should teach shorthand, as well- it's a very useful skill.

Guess it might just be cultural then. The only thing I've seen people ever write in print was their family name and it's because it's a convention to make sure people don't mistake a letter reading it.

I suspect not teaching cursive is a largely American thing. In my experience it's very much the norm here in the UK to write in cursive as well; I do know people who prefer to write in non-cursive, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

Haven't some Scandinavian countries done away with it as well, or am I mistaken ...?

German here; my elementary school time was in the early 2000s, and I've learned two different variants of cursive due to a switch between schools (my home state hasn't mandated a general scripture style for primary schools, it used to be left up to schools themselves back then). While I do see the merits of cursive regarding efficiency and aesthetics, it has gotten me into trouble due to my entirely illegible handwriting - as a result, I started to use block letters, or rather an individualized variant of it, as soon as I entered secondary school. All my teachers approved of that decision. And I'm just as fast as others are writing cursive, despite picking up the pen after each letter. It's just what I'm used to. In fact, nowadays, writing one word in (legible) cursive takes me as much of time as writing a complete sentence in my semi-block scripture.
So, in my opinion, yes, it should still be taught. But it should be left up to individual students whether to continue using cursive once they've learned it, or get back to block letters, as in many cases such as mine, the latter makes more sense than forcing them to still use cursive. All that should count is that teachers can read it.

[Western Vale Confederacy]

I despised cursive because I was left-handed, and immediately reverted back to standard detached writing when cursive in assignments ceased to be mandatory.

That said, I would not oppose teaching students how to write in cursive, but let them choose whether they prefer cursive or detached.

[Pax Nerdvana]

They tried to teach us cursive in elementary school, but I don't remember anything about it, except that I hated it. I can't even write cursive at all. I should probably at least come up with a signature.

[Teachian]

When I transferred to a public high school after attending a private school for most of my childhood, I remember one of my new friends being blown away by the fact that I wrote my homework in cursive. I had never love or hated it, but when nuns yelled at me for a few years to do it that way, that was my go-to.

Once I started dropping it a year or so later, I never went back. I can read cursive, but print looks infinitely nicer to me, both ascethically and in the ability to read bad handwriting. I still have no problem signing my name for stuff, which is pretty often, but it’s been so long I usually work off of muscle memory more than conscious thought when using it. And idk if it’s just because I fucked up my hand posture, but print is far easier to use, which goes doubly so as I start teaching myself how to write with my left hand. I’m a-okay with other people using cursive, but I think the segment of the population that’ll actually be able to read it is growing smaller and smaller.

[Kiruri]

Cursive, is it useful for anything?

To be honest, the answer's obviously no. If it were useful or key in helping complete a specific goal then cursive as a writing technique wouldn't currently be dying out. Those I know of my generation, I'm currently 22, have never had to submit any assignment or present any documentation handwritten in cursive at all. Not once in college/university and certainly not once in our respective workplaces. We live in a society dominated by typed and printed word docs.

In fact, now that I think about it, at least in my Uni and at work we've adopted a print-ONLY-if-necessary mentality where basically all documentation is in their electronic format.

I feel we currently value typing skills above calligraphy/cursive handwriting skills. I do recall being taught cursive in elementary school but as soon as I hit middle school I never had to do any cursive assignment nor was I expected to write anything in cursive. In middle school, we started exclusively with typing skills and developing at least 70 wpm speeds. That's, imho, what replaced cursive.

[Katganistan]

For fuck's sake, teach it.

I'm getting more and more students whose handwriting is so bad I can't grade their (in-class) essays because they are completely illegible. Given they need to write longhand for standardized exams anyway, not teaching cursive because everyone uses a computer is crippling them at expressing themselves on handwritten tasks.

If you want to do away with it then don't be assholes: make test centers where student can type their comprehensive exams on computers. Don't stop teaching it and continue to force students to write essays by hand.

[SD_Film Artists]

For fuck's sake, teach it.

I'm getting more and more students whose handwriting is so bad I can't grade their essays because they are completely illegible. Given they need to write longhand for standardized exams anyway, not teaching cursive because everyone uses a computer is crippling them at expressing themselves on handwritten tasks.

It's not really about computers though. It's just not enforcing a rather arbitrary writing style onto people. Sometimes cursive is so smooth and curly that it ceases to be intelligible letters and just looks like one long signature; and apparently we do this for "clarity".

[Katganistan]

For fuck's sake, teach it.

I'm getting more and more students whose handwriting is so bad I can't grade their essays because they are completely illegible. Given they need to write longhand for standardized exams anyway, not teaching cursive because everyone uses a computer is crippling them at expressing themselves on handwritten tasks.

It's not really about computers though. It's just not enforcing a rather arbitrary writing style onto people. Sometimes cursive is so smooth and curly that it ceases to be intelligible letters and just looks like one long signature.

I don't care what they're taught as long as it's legible. Cursive, block printing, d'nealian, whatever -- if you insist on hand written tasks, then teach clear handwriting.

[SD_Film Artists]

It's not really about computers though. It's just not enforcing a rather arbitrary writing style onto people. Sometimes cursive is so smooth and curly that it ceases to be intelligible letters and just looks like one long signature.

I don't care what they're taught as long as it's legible. Cursive, block printing, d'nealian, whatever -- if you insist on hand written tasks, then teach clear handwriting.

That I can agree with.

[Ungvarnfjall]

It doesn't really matter. It's not a bulwark of American culture and definitely not an imperative of the English language, so it living on or dying off, imo, won't have any real impact. I just choose to write with it because my cursive is more organized than my normal print handwriting. In cursive, I look like I could be a medieval prince. In print, I'm probably 9-years-old.

[Augustus Legions]

why cant they make it an elective so that no one has to do cursive homework in 3rd grade

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

It is an evil thing that should be destroyed.

[Nakena]

It is an evil thing that should be destroyed.

Amen

[Nevv Vegas]

What's the matter? Why not teach cursive? They teach it in Estonia. Everyone having a different style of writing Will make it harder to read. Also cursive is beautiful.

[Pope Joan]

Most teachers are themselves inept at handwriting and so are incapable of teaching it.
I learned much more satisfactorily by teaching myself

[Zitravgrad]

Most teachers are themselves inept at handwriting and so are incapable of teaching it.
I learned much more satisfactorily by teaching myself

Hah, yes... This was one of the problems presented when I was younger. We had exercise books in which we wrote in cursive, but the teachers still wrote in print on the board.

[Hammer Britannia]

Everyone has their own style of writing, and I like my own separated-letter handwriting. Here's a sample of my writing.

(Image)

NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD

[Salandriagado]

Ah is cursive a language or???

It's an extremely specific style of handwriting popular in America, that the US seems to have decided is the only possible alternative to print, for reasons that I don't even pretend to understand.

[Stellar Colonies]

I was taught cursive in grade school, and I remember it as being frustrating but not too difficult to eventually learn, even if I didn't master it. Since then, I've barely used it at all except for signing my name now and again, and my abilities in that style of writing has decayed, to put it mildly.

As things are going currently, it seems that teaching it is becoming less worthwhile.