Young People Have Lost The Ability To Read Cursive.

[gfs2222]

[gfs2222]

]I'm 16 right now and many people my age and younger are unable to read my cursive handwriting and it would seem cursive in general.

 

Here's my handwriting so you can see that it's quite legible:

 

Edited May 3, 2015 by gfs2222

[MKB]

I learned the next generation of cursive after Palmer; I don't know the name, and none of my searches has turned up an exact match. The capital letters are without flair, but I must admit it's an easy style to read.

 

Was it A Beka cursive (or abeka)? That's what we learned in the early 70's.

[Manalto]

 

Was it A Beka cursive (or abeka)? That's what we learned in the early 70's.

 

The closest I can come is Zaner-Bloser. The timing is correct, 1960s. As I was learning it, I remember thinking some of the letters were odd, particularly the F, Q and V. The handwriting of older people had so much more grace and flair to it; they were probably Palmer graduates.

 

ETA: Now that I poke around a little more, I see elements of both Palmer and Z-B in the style I was taught: H began with a loop, the M stepped down in height, etc. but other letters are simpler than Palmer. Anyway, I've modified it much over the years.

 

I think the focus for handwriting instruction should be on beauty, not simplicity. We consistently underestimate kids, thinking they can't learn something. Why shouldn't they be capable of learning the same thing students learned 100 years ago? My guess? Not willing to devote enough time.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Manalto

[TXKat]

An observation from the other direction as well. Last year I was given the task of inputting comments from seminars we had offered, the majority of which were attended by a much younger generation than I. These people are the future of our business, but were raised in the computer/social media era.

 

I write in cursive. They print. BUT, their handwriting in general (some are quite good, but not the norm) is abysmal! Often parts of letters were dropped completely when they printed one letter almost over the top of another. It was an extremely difficult task to decipher what had been written, and often it took multiple people to look at the written comments to figure out what the letters even were.

 

We wrote everything by hand and it was this "practice", IMHO, that helped our handwriting. The younger generations don't seem to need/want to hand write anything anymore. How unfortunate for them.

[Manalto]

I feel like I'm over-contributing here, but this excerpt, from the book I'm currently reading, seemed appropriate to the discussion:

 

“The irony of this new discovery is that for hundreds of years educators did seem to sense that children’s brains had to be built up through exercises of increasing difficulty that strengthened brain functions. Up through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a classical education often included rote memorization of long poems in foreign languages, which strengthened the auditory memory (hence thinking in language) and an almost fanatical attention to handwriting, which probably helped strengthen motor capacities and thus not only helped handwriting but added speed and fluency to reading and speaking. Often a great deal of attention was paid to exact elocution and perfecting the pronunciation of words. Then in the 1960s educators dropped such traditional exercises from the curriculum, because they were too rigid, boring, and “not relevant.” But the loss of these drills has been costly; they may have been the only opportunity that many students had to systematically exercise the brain function that gives us fluency and grace with symbols. For the rest of us, their disappearance may have contributed to the general decline of eloquence, which requires memory and a level of auditory brain-power unfamiliar to us now. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 the debaters would comfortably speak for an hour or more without notes, in extended memorized paragraphs; today many of the most learned among us, raised in our most elite schools since the 1960s, prefer the omnipresent PowerPoint presentation – the ultimate compensation for a weak pre-motor cortex.”

Norman Doidge, M.D., The Brain That Changes Itself (p. 42) Penguin Books, 2007

Edited May 4, 2015 by Manalto

[graystranger]

I feel like I'm over-contributing here, but this excerpt, from the book I'm currently reading, seemed appropriate to the discussion:

 

“The irony of this new discovery is that for hundreds of years educators did seem to sense that children’s brains had to be built up through exercises of increasing difficulty that strengthened brain functions. Up through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a classical education often included rote memorization of long poems in foreign languages, which strengthened the auditory memory (hence thinking in language) and an almost fanatical attention to handwriting, which probably helped strengthen motor capacities and thus not only helped handwriting but added speed and fluency to reading and speaking. Often a great deal of attention was paid to exact elocution and perfecting the pronunciation of words. Then in the 1960s educators dropped such traditional exercises from the curriculum, because they were too rigid, boring, and “not relevant.” But the loss of these drills has been costly; they may have been the only opportunity that many students had to systematically exercise the brain function that gives us fluency and grace with symbols. For the rest of us, their disappearance may have contributed to the general decline of eloquence, which requires memory and a level of auditory brain-power unfamiliar to us now. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 the debaters would comfortably speak for an hour or more without notes, in extended memorized paragraphs; today many of the most learned among us, raised in our most elite schools since the 1960s, prefer the omnipresent PowerPoint presentation – the ultimate compensation for a weak pre-motor cortex.”

Norman Doidge, M.D., The Brain That Changes Itself (p. 42) Penguin Books, 2007

Manalto, thank you so much for this paragraph from Doidge's book. He makes a lot of sense and this helps me understand some of what is going on with people who have come through our "modern" education.

 

This helps explain the movement away from books to the so-called graphic novels (sophisticated comic books) among the youth. The mind is incredibly powerful but so many do not want to use it (or their education has not put them through the mental training to engage their mind), they want a graphic image to do the work of their mind. Texting and brief keyboard use is turning conversation and communication into just a series of grunts, not unlike the communication of young infants: short, brief, simple statements. No depth to it. Reading is a learned skill that improves continually the more a person reads.

 

I had not thought about the need to strengthen the auditory memory as part of language development. Some "educators" claim that punctuation stifles creativity and it has been suppressed in many curriculums in recent times. E-books are being published that do not utilize quotation marks in the dialog at all, or it is used incorrectly.

 

There are no short cuts to learning. Many do not realize is that the leaders in education are not experts in learning, they think they have logical short cuts that are better than what has been learned over the centuries. That has been obvious when we look at the poor performance of US students compared with many students from other countries. The excerpt you gave makes a very important point.

[httpmom]

I would add that the elimination of music and art in the grade school curriculums is probably more damaging than the lack of cursive writing. There have been many studies that prove music and art significant contributors to the development of conceptual thinking, making these two subjects particularly imperative for the future of our country.

Edited May 4, 2015 by httpmom

[TXKat]

I would add that the elimination of music and art in the grade school curriculums is probably more damaging than the lack of cursive writing. There have been many studies that prove music and art significant contributors to the development of conceptual thinking, making these two subjects particularly imperative for the future of our country. Mine you, this was the top rated school district in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area!

 

Another great point!

 

What happens when the generations to come can no longer read the actual documents of history? Or their own documents for genealogy? I don't print and save emails, but I always saved letters!

 

I fear we will lose all of this at some point if the majority deem cursive writing and the arts (to include Language) unnecessary for teaching. Not good.

[DaveBj]

Our community band met last night in the town middle school (6th-8th grades) band room. There was a student's notebook in the lost-and-found basket. I opened it, just to look at the handwriting. Everything was printed

[Maurizio]

I feel like I'm over-contributing here, but this excerpt, from the book I'm currently reading, seemed appropriate to the discussion:

 

“The irony of this new discovery is that for hundreds of years educators did seem to sense that children’s brains had to be built up through exercises of increasing difficulty that strengthened brain functions. Up through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a classical education often included rote memorization of long poems in foreign languages, which strengthened the auditory memory (hence thinking in language) and an almost fanatical attention to handwriting, which probably helped strengthen motor capacities and thus not only helped handwriting but added speed and fluency to reading and speaking. Often a great deal of attention was paid to exact elocution and perfecting the pronunciation of words. Then in the 1960s educators dropped such traditional exercises from the curriculum, because they were too rigid, boring, and “not relevant.” But the loss of these drills has been costly; they may have been the only opportunity that many students had to systematically exercise the brain function that gives us fluency and grace with symbols. For the rest of us, their disappearance may have contributed to the general decline of eloquence, which requires memory and a level of auditory brain-power unfamiliar to us now. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 the debaters would comfortably speak for an hour or more without notes, in extended memorized paragraphs; today many of the most learned among us, raised in our most elite schools since the 1960s, prefer the omnipresent PowerPoint presentation – the ultimate compensation for a weak pre-motor cortex.”

 

Norman Doidge, M.D., The Brain That Changes Itself (p. 42) Penguin Books, 2007

 

Thanks for the enlightening quote.

[subbu68]

Your writing is quite good. I too am in late 40's and have no issues reading it.

 

As someone wrote like his/her child, my daughter now 12 plus has been taught cursive from KG and she has developed a great handwriting. I encourage her with good FPs and various inks.

 

Another issue now I have seen is many new-gen professionals cannot write a report or a letter properly. Copy, Paste and blunder.

Edited May 5, 2015 by subbu68

[bekki2308]

I'm 23 and can read your writing no problem

[TXKat]

...

 

Another issue now I have seen is many new-gen professionals cannot write a report or a letter properly. Copy, Paste and blunder.

 

Back to language skills!

 

Don't get me wrong, folks! I'm by no means a master of the Language Arts, but I feel ashamed at the level our society operates on compared to many educated and living, at some point, outside of the USA. With each passing generation, we lose a little.

 

OT, but, the History Channel shows some great programs showing how the cultures of hundreds of years ago (pre-computer and electric conveniences) survived and prospered. Many of the greatest minds today can't even figure out how things at that time were done, but it goes back to my comment that with each passing generation, if we take short cuts, we lose something. This thought brought to you by the story of the Viking Sun Stone from hundreds of years BEFORE the compass. They were bright enough (okay, pun intended) to figure out navigation without the sun by using their brains and creating.

 

We all need to exercise our brains more and I think writing in cursive for those that don't is but a very small start. *jumps off soapbox! *

 

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

[cadfael_tex]

My sons can't read my cursive. Not going to stop me from writing it though.

[ragpaper1817]

Don't get me going as my Son's school does not teach cursive for the reasons already mentioned.I am lucky though to have teenagers who don't mind hanging out with Dad and are inquisitive.Thus the buying of a fountain pen and a "What's that Dad" which turns into "Let me show you something cool". Thats how I got them to read more. Now, I am hoping for a can you get me one of those.

[Manalto]

Skills in grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure are good companions to cursive. People who engage their brains in clear thought process increase their ability to do so. The pair of eloquence with beautiful penmanship is an increasingly rare commodity.

[delano]

Thanks OP, for this post. It's been wonderfully informative. Not least of all because both you at 16 and a fellow responder at 17 years of age still appreciate a good hand.

 

I agree with the comments of a more upright angle, but also appreciate the beauty of your writing as it is. And yes, its legible.

[AAAndrew]

I'm an age that begins with a 5 and I stopped writing cursive back in 8th grade. I printed everything and had atrocious handwriting (though I could do calligraphy with the right pen) up until last year. When I re-discovered fountain pens after a 10-year gap, I also began to re-learn cursive. My "style" is a combination of what I was taught back in the 60's-70's, and some letter forms from calligraphy or even printing. (like my capital S)

 

My son's school does teach cursive. It's not nearly as intensive as when I was growing up, and they're not required to write assignments in it at the moment, but they do learn and practice it. Actually, when he has assignments where he has to write a list of words in cursive, he and I sit down and do it together. He's in third grade.

 

I suspect that there will always be some who can read cursive, and even those not trained in it will muddle through, just as we muddle through Blackletter and copperplate writing though never being taught in the execution of those styles.

 

And while I completely agree about the lack of arts in the schools, I do find it interesting how intensely my son is being trained in critical thinking in his public school. They're starting algebraic thinking (symbolic thinking) in third grade. Maybe he just goes to a good public school, but I find that his love of reading is a greater help than anything else in his verbal and thinking skills. We're fortunate that he loves to read and is good at it. (he reads at about a 7th-grade level) It's just going to be up to his mother and I to bring the arts and culture to his education, which fortunately we're up for. I was an art-history major and she's a dance teacher and choreographer.

 

So, I don't think it's all doom and gloom, not that I'm saying anyone here claimed that. Just as in days past, a balance needs to be struck between science, math, literacy, creative and cultural pursuits, physical activity and play. Too much of any one of these never really works. But it's different for each kid how much is "too much."

 

So, to the OP, keep writing and practicing your cursive. It's a good skill and will set you apart from others. I do think that writing in cursive causes you to think differently, and perhaps be more deliberate. I know I can't write as quickly as I can print, so when I'm taking notes in cursive I think more about what I'm going to write and tend to "process" the information more before it goes down on paper. Hopefully that's a good thing.

 

Good luck

[httpmom]

 

Another issue now I have seen is many new-gen professionals cannot write a report or a letter properly. Copy, Paste and blunder.

 

This is so true. When my daughter was in elementary school the PTA, of which I was a part hired the librarian to teach "Writing" to the children. She made sure that by the time they graduated, they all knew how to research and write a proper report, business letter, resume, etc. My college age daughter says it was the most useful class she had back then.