Questioning The Teachings Of Cursive
At one point in time, teachers took the time out to teach students how to write in cursive. However, now there seems to be a big issue with cursive handwriting being taught in classrooms.
Forty-one states have so far adopted the new Common Core State Standards for English, which does not require teachers to teach cursive handwriting.
Many school districts are now trying to decide whether or not teaching students cursive is relevant and several districts plan to take it completely out of their curriculum within the next three years. Though, many people don’t usually use cursive, it is still important to learn to do so.
According to www.thedenverchannel.com, Andrew Zapotoczny, the principal at Stober Elementary, said, “Cursive is not addressed as a basic literacy outcome in the CBLA, the Colorado Basic Literacy Act. There is a finite amount of time that our teachers have in a classroom, and it is deciding on what are the most important things that we can instruct those students during that time."
Carl Brown, principal of Manatee Elementary in Viera, Florida, said, "With all the other subjects we must teach, we just don't have the time to spend a lot of effort on cursive," according to usatoday.com.
How could teaching students cursive handwriting even be questioned? Everyone uses it, maybe not every day, but they eventually use it.
For instance, college students are not required to write in cursive, but they may often have to read it. Many professors write certain lecture notes on the board—usually in cursive rather than in print.
“My students are required to take lecture notes in class; however, some students find it difficult even to read the key points that I place on the board simply because they have difficulty reading cursive,” Joanne Anzenberger, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, said. “Students are taught this skill in grade school as well as middle and high school, but from the responses I receive from many of my students, classic penmanship was not a primary focus in their earlier educations.”
Also, signatures are needed for just about any documentation. Numerous college professors distribute contracts at the beginning of every semester, which must be signed. Imagine being a college student not knowing how to simply sign your name. How would that make you feel?
Contracts need to be signed for basically everything, whether you’re applying for a loan, joining the NFL, or even getting a new apartment. You can’t print your name if it says “sign here” or “signature”.
A person’s signature is a part of their identity. People have their own unique way of signing their name. If everyone had to print their name, the rate of fraud would increase immensely. Anyone would be able to forge a person’s name on a document. The less intricate the handwriting, the easier it is to forge.
There are even handwriting experts used in certain cases to depict a person’s signature. If there are people who have a profession in this, then there must be some kind of significance to cursive.
Think of all the young people who are not familiar with cursive. What will they do if they have to read historical documents such as the Constitution? They just won’t know.
At one point in time, teachers took the time out to teach students how to write in cursive. However, now there seems to be a big issue with cursive handwriting being taught in classrooms.
Forty-one states have so far adopted the new Common Core State Standards for English, which does not require teachers to teach cursive handwriting.
Many school districts are now trying to decide whether or not teaching students cursive is relevant and several districts plan to take it completely out of their curriculum within the next three years. Though, many people don’t usually use cursive, it is still important to learn to do so.
According to www.thedenverchannel.com, Andrew Zapotoczny, the principal at Stober Elementary, said, “Cursive is not addressed as a basic literacy outcome in the CBLA, the Colorado Basic Literacy Act. There is a finite amount of time that our teachers have in a classroom, and it is deciding on what are the most important things that we can instruct those students during that time."
Carl Brown, principal of Manatee Elementary in Viera, Florida, said, "With all the other subjects we must teach, we just don't have the time to spend a lot of effort on cursive," according to usatoday.com.
How could teaching students cursive handwriting even be questioned? Everyone uses it, maybe not every day, but they eventually use it.
For instance, college students are not required to write in cursive, but they may often have to read it. Many professors write certain lecture notes on the board—usually in cursive rather than in print.
“My students are required to take lecture notes in class; however, some students find it difficult even to read the key points that I place on the board simply because they have difficulty reading cursive,” Joanne Anzenberger, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, said. “Students are taught this skill in grade school as well as middle and high school, but from the responses I receive from many of my students, classic penmanship was not a primary focus in their earlier educations.”
Also, signatures are needed for just about any documentation. Numerous college professors distribute contracts at the beginning of every semester, which must be signed. Imagine being a college student not knowing how to simply sign your name. How would that make you feel?
Contracts need to be signed for basically everything, whether you’re applying for a loan, joining the NFL, or even getting a new apartment. You can’t print your name if it says “sign here” or “signature”.
A person’s signature is a part of their identity. People have their own unique way of signing their name. If everyone had to print their name, the rate of fraud would increase immensely. Anyone would be able to forge a person’s name on a document. The less intricate the handwriting, the easier it is to forge.
There are even handwriting experts used in certain cases to depict a person’s signature. If there are people who have a profession in this, then there must be some kind of significance to cursive.
Think of all the young people who are not familiar with cursive. What will they do if they have to read historical documents such as the Constitution? They just won’t know.
What about the new generations to come, who may want to read something written by a family member? For example, there may be a granddaughter who will have a difficult time trying to read her grandmother’s diary because it was written in cursive. Imagine that.
Imagine a document being sent to your home saying you’re being sued for $1 million dollars because you breached a contract that you’ve never seen before.
If school districts proceed to discontinue cursive in their classrooms, America will simply become a handicap. Cursive is needed and used everywhere. Pushing a keyboard under children’s hands is not going to help them much. It may not seem like it’s important but it is.
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