Is cursive writing obsolete?

When's the last time you wrote a cursive capital Q? Or even seen one without confusing it with a 2? Loopy Q's and Z's and consistently connected letters seem to have gone the way of the telegraph. What once was a 30-minute-a-day subject is now a 15-minute quickie -- and that's in the schools where cursive instruction is still required. Ten percent of elementary schools have abandoned it completely in favor of other curriculum areas [source: SFC].

The relevance of cursive in a culture of apps and OMGs is, at best, up for debate. Once, though, it was a very applicable skill. Before the advent of typewriters in the late 19th century, handwritten communication was the only way for individuals to express themselves. So logically, good handwriting, and specifically the highly personalized, more intricate cursive format, was an important skill. Poor handwriting, like poor speaking, could make you look stupid, lazy or ignorant.

As recently as a few decades ago, kids with particularly illegible script could end up being sent to required summer handwriting camp. It was that important.

In fact, today's texters and word processors might be surprised to learn those camps are still around. Handwriting Success offers summer programs from the 4-year-old pre-writing stage all the way to the adult level. Its Web site claims "Good handwriting is one key to success in school" [source: HS]. The tagline for Pencil Pals handwriting camp, an "exciting summer program" emphasizing "fine motor development, correct grip, and letter formation skills," is "handwriting counts" [source: PP].

Does it?

The absence of cursive might make for more mundane, less personalized written documents. But beyond that, does it matter? Does cursive handwriting have any practical application in today's world?

In this article, we'll find out what purpose cursive writing serves and see whether it still holds value. We'll see how kids respond to it, how it fits in with the overall learning process and whether, as some propose, it's really an obsolete skill in a highly computerized society.

It's pretty easy to believe it is.