THE CASE FOR CURSIVE WRITING:

The Case for Cursive (NYTimes) By KATIE ZEZIMA

APRIL 27, 2011

For centuries, cursive handwriting has been an art. To a growing number of young people, it is a mystery.

The sinuous letters of the cursive alphabet, swirled on countless love letters, credit card slips and banners above elementary school chalk boards are going the way of the quill and inkwell. With computer keyboards and smartphones increasingly occupying young fingers, the gradual death of the fancier ABC’s is revealing some unforeseen challenges.

Might people who write only by printing — in block letters, or perhaps with a sloppy, squiggly signature — be more at risk for forgery? Is the development of a fine motor skill thwarted by an aversion to cursive handwriting? And what happens when young people who are not familiar with cursive have to read historical documents like the Constitution?

Featured Comment from teacher in New Jersey

“The majority of students cannot write in cursive, nor can they read it. At the same time, their printing skills are awful. Not only is it difficult for me to read, they themselves often cannot read back their own notes.”

Jimmy Bryant, director of Archives and Special Collections at the HYPERLINK "http://uca.edu/archives/"University of HYPERLINK "http://uca.edu/archives/"Central Arkansas, says that a connection to archival material is lost when students turn away from cursive. While teaching last year, Mr. Bryant, on a whim, asked students to raise their hands if they wrote in cursive as a way to communicate. None did.