Is cursive a dying art of communication?

[Deacon]

I went to a Catholic school in my early years growing up and one of the things that was drilled into us daily was cursive writing.

I try to write in my Moleskine book most days and am proud of my penmanship...I have been told that I could have signed the Declaration of Independence.

My kids grade schools did some penmanship classes, but those have now stopped that they have reached Middle School.

As I take stock of the world around me I realize that there are fewer and fewer instances in which people have to extensively write to communicate.

Instances:

Everyone emails with personal devices
Fewer and fewer checks are written due to online banking
Cell phones are everywhere
It seems no one writes letters anymore
The only time someone needs a pen is to signe their signature (which 90% of the time is elligible)
Schools are having more and more kids do homework or assignments on laptops
Fewer and fewer schools can find the time or money to teach penmanship

Will the digital age be the death of penmanship?

 

[syngent]

Yup its going... considered art now


Btw any pictures of uour handwriting samples? I'd love to see it
What kind of pens and inks do you use

And most importantly welco.e to the NIB Deacon where we try to keep cursive writing alive... one shaver at a time

 

[the_edski]

True statement, especially when spoken by a man who has committed himself to Gothic script!

Yup its going... considered art now

 

[SIG9]

Unfortunately, I think it is going the way of the dodo. I tried writing in cursive a few months back because I was curious if I remembered and figured it's like riding a bike (in that you never really forget). Well, let's just say that it's not like bike riding. YMMV.

 

[celestino]

Well, i am not sure about that as i notice more and more "older" folks getting back into fountain pens, so it may not become a relic, any time soon. Keep up the art form, gents.

 

[Slivovitz]

Hard to quantify. Certainly there are those who continue to pursue it, and some schools try to buck the trend. If I'm trying to communicate by handwritten note with someone who I don't actually know can read cursive, it's safest these days just to dodge the issue and print until I know them better. It's unsettling to run into people in their late teens and early twenties who have never learned cursive at all, but it's a fact of life. I keep my journals and personal notes in cursive, but have only a few acquaintances who I know can read it.

It's not even about good penmanship. It used to be assumed (or so I remember it) that people developed idiosyncratic styles as they got older, and everyone was used to dealing with wide variations on the "correct" form. I remember having a little trouble with letters from my grandmother, and kidding my father about the strange way he made his capital Ms, but it was rare to be completely baffled.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I wasn't even aware there was members of the younger generations that couldn't read cursive. Of course, I should not be surprised, I met one a while back in his 20's, and couldn't tell time without a digital clock! I picked back up writing in cursive for things just in the last few days, and found my handwriting actually seems improved through lack of use now. It's not nearly as horrible as I recall it being. lol

 

[Mr5x5]

Welcome! I'm trying to drill it into my children. I wish I had practiced more when I learned it.

 

[chipnshatter]

I find it very disturbing that my daughters school does not teach cursive . She has only learned what we have taught her at home.Yet they require the students sign their names in cursive. While if they use cursive on papers they get points deducted for not following direction. How can you require a child to use a skill that you do not teach or let them practice.

 

[PFP_Dad]

I occasionally write in cursive (a lot more since being here) but I've noticed that I tend to write half and half when doing longer papers or documents. Penmanship in general is a dying art, I can't read a lot of peoples printing and more schools seem to drop cursive all together every year.

 

[nemo]

Is cursive a dying art of communication?

Not with me! I work in schools and always support writing, at any level.

 

[the gato]

It's become obsolete. Typing is a just a far more effective form of communication. I wouldn't be surprised to see signatures fundamentally change within my lifetime as well.

I'm surprised to see as many as I do complaining about the transition. I've met very few people who are actually proficient in cursive. As mentioned earlier by Slivovitz, deciphering people's cursive is itself a skill. I work in mail services in an area where the clientele is mostly middle-aged to elderly. Unreadable addresses written in cursive comes up every day. Most of the cursive I encounter is a mess of squiggles bookended by 2 legible letters (sometimes one).

That said, I really look forward to the future of handwriting. Practitioners will have more interest in the art and take the time to get skilled. A handwritten letter will offer so much more just because it is handwritten.

 

[Hex]

According to some studies, writing can make you smarter.
http://lifehacker.com/5661420/handwriting-practice-could-improve-your-cognitive-abilities

I KNEW IT !!

 

[coachschaller]

My first grader wanted to start writing cursive. I looked up some of the online help tools found in the enabling nib threads and printed off some worksheets for her. This didn't come from the school (which is wonderful), but her cursive is better than her printing. Typing IS faster (once you learn proper keyboarding), but writing something out helps you to remember it later.