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.

Writing as Communication

The extent of cursive instruction in U.S. schools has steadily decreased since the 1960s. From the '80s on, with the increasing prevalence of computers, questions have been raised as to whether "penmanship" should be taught at all. With the introduction of the "No Child Left Behind" act and high-stakes standardized testing in the 21st century, cursive instruction has become almost an afterthought. There simply isn't enough time in the school day to really focus on something that doesn't show up on the test.

The growing trend in public schools toward "teaching to the test" is only one of the reasons why cursive seems to be falling by the wayside. The curriculum is simply more complicated than it once was. Lessons in subjects like cultural diversity, international politics and computer science, once topics saved for higher education, are now introduced as early as elementary school. With such a diverse and ever-expanding set of requirements, handwriting instruction beyond the basic necessity of print has become somewhat besides the point.

And speaking of computer science, the speedy trend toward computerized and increasingly electronic forms of communication have, in many people's minds, rendered cursive skills practically obsolete. Who writes letters anymore in order to share a story with a friend? Who handwrites a cover letter when applying for a job? When's the last time you sat in a meeting and found yourself holding an agenda written in pen? Seemingly, cursive is an outdated skill in all the ways that count. With the exception of the legally binding signature, few people use it in daily (or even in yearly) life.

It's quickly becoming a lost skill, and the effects of that evolution aren't yet fully known. Increasingly, "writing instruction" is about content, not aesthetics, and with a quarter of American high school seniors lacking basic writing skills, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The ability to form a sentence, paragraph or essay that is articulate and grammatically correct is arguably more useful than the ability to form it neatly.

Not all educators and developmental experts would agree with that argument, though -- at least not without some type of caveat. As it turns out, cursive writing isn't just about the finished product.

Writing as Art

When kids start learning cursive, which is typically around third grade, it's kind of a big deal. First graders print. Second graders print. Third graders write. The fluid, fancy letters and words are a sign of growing up. It's how mommy writes.

Of course, these days, it may not be how mommy writes. But the "rite of passage" aspect of learning cursive remains a fairly strong force in the 9-year-old crowd. It holds value as a longstanding component of the curriculum.

It's also a dynamic cultural element. Cursive writing changes with the times, so a third grader in the 1960s learned a different style from a third grader in 1990s. It tends to reflect cultural values. Eighteenth century Puritans wrote a version that eliminated unnecessary frills. In the 19th century, American script was fluid and loopy. The 20th century found Americans writing a cursive form that was far more utilitarian [source: Suddath]. In the 1990s, cursive became even more pared down, which is the style most kids are learning now [source: Suddath].

It becomes a bit harder to argue for cursive's obsolescence viewed through the window of cultural evolution. If cursive has no place, does that mean our culture has reached a point of such high-tech anonymity that variations in handwriting no longer matter? (Where will all the handwriting analysts go?)

But perhaps the greatest argument against the abandonment of cursive is far less philosophical than rites of passage and cultural reflectivity, and this is the point on which many teachers and other experts get stuck: Learning how to write is a crucial component in learning how to learn. The focus on cursive in and around third grade reflects the developmental connection between writing and thinking. The two don't become truly separated until later. Children who excel in handwriting skills tend also to excel in other academic pursuits [source: Kelley]. Cursive writing assists in the development of fine motor skills and muscle control, and it's an introduction to self-expression [source: Breen]. To abandon handwriting lessons is potentially to interfere with the learning process as a whole.

Is cursive obsolete? Probably not. It's still taught in at least 90 percent of U.S. schools. Very few students use computers in all their classes until college, so note-taking and in-class essay writing are still handwritten activities. Some students will continue with cursive if they prefer the format.

Most, however, don't. As a widespread writing style, cursive may indeed have passed its prime: As of 2007, 85 percent of high school students printed their SAT essays [source: Breen].

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Sources

• Breens, Tom. "Cursive Writing: A Fading Skill." Discovery News. Sept. 21, 2009.http://news.discovery.com/human/cursive-writing-penmanship.html
• Downs, Megan. "Schools debate: Is cursive writing worth teaching?" USA Today. Jan. 23, 2009.http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-01-23-cursive-handwriting_N.htm
• Gault, Ann Matturro. "A Leap Ahead in Writing." Scholastic.http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2104
• Kelley, Raina. "The Writing On The Wall." Newsweek. Nov. 12, 2007.http://www.newsweek.com/id/67956
• Pothier, Mark. "In digital age, more t's are crossed poorly." The Boston Globe. May 6, 2007.http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/05/06/in_digital_age_more_ts_are_crossed_poorly/
• Should kids be taught cursive writing in school? San Francisco Chronicle: The Mommy Files.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=56277
• Suddath, Claire. "Mourning the Death of Handwriting." Time. Aug. 3, 2009.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912419,00.html