How terrible! Next you'll be telling me they can't even decipher hieroglyphics. How dare they try to make communication easier ;(

Her longhand, honed through years of training as an occupational therapist, was executed with a clinician's precision.

Because medical professionals are well-known for their perfectly legible handwriting.

This story is exactly the reason I have my students learn to read cursive before I teach them how to write it.

/third-grade teacher

Well, we use more legible fonts on the Internet -- this isn't written in a script font, after all -- why shouldn't she use an easier font?

Cursive is dead. Good riddance.

I haven't used cursive since about 1982 when I was in the fifth grade. As soon as the school stopped requiring us to write that way, I reverted back to printing. It just felt more natural and neater. But luckily I'm still able to read it.

And they probably can't tell time on an analog clock. Idiots!

Ever notice that most handwriting from, say, 1750 to 1900 seems to look alike?

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People who are employed to teach cursive very concerned that cursive is no longer relevant to society.

This is shocking. No, really.

jimpoz: Ever notice that most handwriting from, say, 1750 to 1900 seems to look alike?

Uh...it bloody well should.

bronyaur1: What is the rationale for making kids spend valuable school time learning to write cursive? Is there some better use of that time?

/Seriously asking.

It's a good question. I've written in block caps ever since that mechanical drawing class in college.

Latin grammar? Check out this handwriting.

Students of Russia learn to write cursive in 1st grade.

bronyaur1: What is the rationale for making kids spend valuable school time learning to write cursive? Is there some better use of that time?

To be fair, they're supposed to be taught cursive in elementary school. Little Billy & Jane aren't going to learn theoretical physics, and given the amount of time wasted each day insuring that nobody brought dreaded peanuts to school, repeated pledges of allegiance, etc. there's not much time left to do anything worthwhile.

Funny enough, I think I'm the last generation of my highschool that taught us how to read and write in cursive.

Yet again, I'm a leftie, so that means my cursive sucks.

/My older brother's a system engineer with a major in AI intelligence and writes in cursive
//So he's getting a kick out of your replies

College students can't read teacher's handwriting because it is in cursive instead of pixels

College students can't read teacher's handwriting because it is in cursive runes instead of pixels

Might as well be - lots of folks haven't seen cursive writing since the 80's, and penmanship isn't taught as it's considered a "waste of time." You don't get No Child Left Behind money for teaching the crotchfruit how to write, after all.

Consequently, most folks have no idea how to write legibly. Penmanship and calligraphy become a dying art form, yet another manual labor rendered obsolete thanks to automation. Hell, at this rate, 3M will have to retire the Post-It in a decade or so.

I remember my parents complaining that I never wrote in cursive. They're probably the last generation who cares.

In 20 years, I'd be surprised if any one knows how to write in cursive.

I had to write a paragraph in cursive on the SAT 5 years ago, and I had to go back and finish it after one of the math sections because the 15 minutes they gave us wasn't enough. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who had to do that too.

Apropos of nothing, I've always wondered what "law hand" (used for legal documents before typewriters) from Charles Dicken's time looked like.

Churchill2004: In 20 years, I'd be surprised if any one knows how to write in cursive.

Or read, even blocks.

CygnusDarius: Funny enough, I think I'm the last generation of my highschool that taught us how to read and write in cursive.

Yet again, I'm a leftie, so that means my cursive sucks.

/My older brother's a system engineer with a major in AI intelligence and writes in cursive
//So he's getting a kick out of your replies

AI intelligence?

No, students can't read prof's handwriting because it sucks, regardless of the cursiveness.

bronyaur1

What is the rationale for making kids spend valuable school time learning to write cursive? Is there some better use of that time?

Teaching things in school has been played out for years now.

FormlessOne: ual labor rendered obsolete thanks to automation. Hell, at this rate, 3M will have to retire the Post-It in a decade or so.

I suppose you're also going to complain that Congress doesn't have its proceedings published by an expert Thomas Jefferson calligraphy imitator.

I remember taking some sort of certification test for my teacher cert., or maybe it was for the ACT. You had to write this paragraph in cursive that stated you wouldn't cheat and all that good stuff. I hadn't written in cursive for so long so that part was harder than the actual test.

I was in an experimental class in elementary school where we were taught italics instead of cursive. I had to go to an outside class so I could learn enough cursive to sign my name.

I used cursive for everything in college,for exams and taking notes. My friends would bust my chops over it, but it was much more natural and quicker so I didn't care.

/graduated 3 weeks ago.

smooshie: How terrible! Next you'll be telling me they can't even decipher hieroglyphics. How dare they try to make communication easier ;(

Considering today's kids aren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the pack, you're right. They need things to be as easy as possible.

thelordofcheese: CygnusDarius: Funny enough, I think I'm the last generation of my highschool that taught us how to read and write in cursive.

Yet again, I'm a leftie, so that means my cursive sucks.

/My older brother's a system engineer with a major in AI intelligence and writes in cursive
//So he's getting a kick out of your replies

AI intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence intelligence. It's much like:
UMB Bank (United Missouri Bank Bank), and
ATM machine (Automated Teller Machine machine).

bearsfolks: And they probably can't tell time on an analog clock. Idiots!

I'd hope we could all agree that if you're incapable of reading analog clocks, you should probably be taken out and shot on principle.

For the record, I don't write in cursive, but I can certainly read it. Pathetic if you can't.

Why do we bother with cursive anyway? I mean, I know how to read and write it, but the only time I ever actually use it is for signatures. Who gives a damn? I guess it is pretty or whatever, but otherwise a useless skill.

Churchill2004: I suppose you're also going to complain that Congreẛs doesn't have its proceedings published by an expert Thomas Jefferson calligraphy imitator.

Fixed that for you, illiterate peasant.

caninefly: I was in an experimental class in elementary school where we were taught italics instead of cursive. I had to go to an outside class so I could learn enough cursive to sign my name.

FTFY

Kar98: Churchill2004: I suppose you're also going to complain that Congreẛs doesn't have its proceedings published by an expert Thomas Jefferson calligraphy imitator.

Fixed that for you, illiterate peasant.

True story- I once met a thirty-year old college graduate who thought "Congrefs" was just an antiquated spelling. Yes, with an 'f'.

I'm only 25, and I learned how to read and write in cursive in second grade. The kids in college right now are only 5 years younger than I am. Was there such a degradation in education in half a decade that they stopped teaching the basics? If this were a span of twenty years, I could understand. But 5 or 6? shiat, I assume those kids can remember a time without the internet, I sure can. I remember having to use a typewriter for school papers, and I didn't get a computer education until about middle school when I mostly had to teach myself on the computers in the library, and it was huge news when they finally got the internet around 1993. Maybe my schools were behind the times, but I liked learning how to do things the old fashioned way. Dewey Decimal and cursive writing and learning to type well because there's no such thing as a backspace on a typewriter.

25 is way too young to ask someone to get off my lawn. I don't even have a lawn, just a patch of half dead grass behind my apartment building.

Gawdzila: Why do we bother with cursive anyway? I mean, I know how to read and write it, but the only time I ever actually use it is for signatures. Who gives a damn? I guess it is pretty or whatever, but otherwise a useless skill.

I agree. The focus should be on proper communication, not on holding to traditions. If cursive has become obsolete, then why waste time on it?

What would be the advantage?

Eh, they taught me cursive when I was in third grade (10 years ago) and swore we'd have to write in it from 4th grade on - which was an utter crock of shiat.

Good riddance, I say - Cursive is archaic and oftentimes illegible even to me, and I'm generally pretty good at deciphering awful handwriting.