Well, I must admit that I am conflicted on this particular subject. A local PA Legislator is introducing a bill reinstituting cursive writing in our schools. YES, I am a great believer in maintaining core skills and I laugh every time I meet someone who cannot decipher cursive text. The question, however, is does this skill rise to the same level as the other thing that must be removed from the curriculum to make room. After all, we no longer teach kids to use slide rules, even though people were better at fundamental math when we did. Its an obsolete technology. Still useful, but superseded in our day to day lives.

Cursive Writing Instruction Could Be Required In PA Schools

I know this sounds weird coming from the reeanctor who constantly harps on resurrecting lost skills. I fully understand the “Well, I had to suffer through penmanship class, so you must also…” argument but there is a big difference between romanticizing the past and being stuck in it. Its important to remember that we wrote in script because of the writing implements of the day, no because it was a better way.