“States and schools shouldn’t cling to cursive based on the romantic idea that it’s a tradition, an art form or a basic skill whose disappearance would be a cultural tragedy. In an editorial published on 4 September 2013, the Los Angeles Times hailed a step forward. But they will no longer need to worry about the up and down strokes involved in “joined-up” writing, less still the ornamental loops on capitals. Since 2013 American children have been required to learn how to use a keyboard and write in print. Given that email and texting have replaced snail mail, and that students take notes on their laptops, “cursive” writing – in which the pen is not raised between each character – has been dropped from the Common Core Curriculum Standards, shared by all states. In the United States they have already made allowance for this state of affairs. People undoubtedly write more than they suppose, but one thing is certain: with information technology we can write so fast that handwritten copy is fast disappearing in the workplace. On average they had not put pen to paper in the previous 41 days. According to the study, commissioned by Docmail, a printing and mailing company, one in three respondents had not written anything by hand in the previous six months. No one can say precisely how much handwriting has declined, but in June a British survey of 2,000 people gave some idea of the extent of the damage. But when did you last draft a long text by hand? How long ago did you write your last “proper” letter, using a pen and a sheet of writing paper? Are you among the increasing number of people, at work, who are switching completely from writing to typing? ![]() Perhaps you added a comment to your child’s report book or made a few quick notes during a meeting. In the past few days you may well have scribbled out a shopping list on the back of an envelope or stuck a Post-it on your desk.
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