Cursive Useless Skill or Not?

[Firehearted 120]

This is probably going to attract no traffic but I felt like talking about it.

 

Cursive. I'm pretty sure we've all seen it. You know. You squiggly lines that people wrote in years ago. But do we still need it? I think yes. Back in um... second? yeah, second grade writing was a class where we were taught how to write cursive. Now my teacher was ancient (60 or something. Not that old but it felt like it then) and had the mentality that it had to be perfect. Every E had to be the perfect size and capital G had to have the exact loop. I wrote in cursive for years after this and that was my go-to writing style. Then after a few years we moved (That's the army for you). My next school didn't care for cursive nor did they teach it. I was directly asked by teachers to write in print rather than cursive. Bad for me cause I had almost forgotten how to write print and had to make the sudden swap. Now my hand writing is pretty bad and traces of cursive can be found when I do write (I mostly type now becasue of my handwriting) such as many times I never lift up and write full words with no break in the letters. I can still read and write cursive so I think I'm good. Now to get off my life story and to the point here. 

 

We need cursive. One argument is signatures. "It ain't a signature if it ain't in cursive" Says my 87 year old Southern grandmother. And that's right. If seen many times were someone writes print where it should be a signature. Public Schools don't teach it yet is a needed skill. If it's in print it can be forged easily.  

I'm not going to put the whole "Cursive is an art form" thing out there cause that's just stupid. Old documents written in cursive that hold historic value can't be read by many public school students and private school students from there lack of learning. I'm not saying everything should be in cursive rather that people need to know it when they see it and be able to write in it if needed. 

I ended on a weak note here but that's all I've got.

 

I leave with this. Can you read it?

Edited January 10, 2015 by Firehearted

[Discordian 6,013]

Never much cared for cursive. It's probably due to lack of practice but it's extremely time consuming to write and difficult to read. I prefer plaintext.

 

I'm all for fancy to be fancy though so unless it's something important cursive on, peeps.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Discordian

[Troblems 5,608]

So apparently cursive is now considered an art form, which I believe is a load of BS. I write in a hybrid form of cursive and block letters, and it makes me sad that my children won't be taught how to read my writing, unless I do it myself. Now, presumably this change has only happened in public schools, so if my kiddos go to a private school this probably will not be the case. But not being able to read cursive is going to be a serious handicap to the kids in elementary school now. They will inevitably come across someone in some point in life who writes cursive.

 

Think about it. A child who is currently in elementary school grows up and becomes a bank teller. Some lady walks in with a hand written check. While it does have the number amount on said check, part of the job of a bank teller is to ensure the number amount and written amount are the same. If the bank teller can't read it, that's going to be a problem.

 

American public school systems are becoming more and more riddled with holes. Fewer after school activities, less recess time (where kids learn the most), eliminating the teaching of cursive. No wonder more and more parents are home schooling their children. More kids are being released into the world with lacking social skills, less ability to read. I'm getting a bit off topic so I'll end with this: it makes me sad.

[silvadel 1,393]

Yep, I also tend to write in a hybrid of the two.  I almost wonder if we shouldn't just teach kids shorthand or somesuch.  Writing as it stands is massively inferior to typing (assuming you can type at any decent rate of speed). 

[Shanks 10,811]

I don't like cursive for the simple reason that I need to concetrate to the point my eyeballs are ready to pop out of my head just to read it and I just can't call it an art form because to me it looks like someone had a stroke and ran a pen randomly across a piece of paper.

[Neon Fire 473]

I don't see the point to keeping it.  Signatures can just be in normal print writing.  I know cursive, but rarely use it--only for signatures.  And it takes me a little longer to write it too, which is annoying.  Plus, with some people it's really hard to read.

[Flash Fire 386]

I write almost exclusively in cursive, with the exception of certain letters. Capital's, m's, z's, and the like. If my kids didn't learn cursive, they wouldn't be able to read my writting. It bugs me that kids are taught to write their a's differently than the printed a. I make it a point to use it when I do print. 

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

It is a useful skill still for those who work in areas were they encounter older people on a regular basis. Cursive was made in order to make writing faster, but due to electronics, that is no longer needed as even most schools are considering eliminating most handwritten works, due to the connivance of electronic writing devices. But for those that work with older documents, and those that will encounter older generations of people regularly it is still a relatively needed skill, to be at least able to read. Take for example someone who works in a court. If they have to review documents from an earlier time when we did not have easy access to typewriters, or did not have access to electronic means of writing then the skill to read cursive would still be useful.

 

And it looks all flowey and makes writing by hand faster.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

As someone who didn't really have the luxury of learning cursive in 3rd grade along with the rest of his class due to missing nearly a whole month of that school year, all I can write and read in that style of writing is my signature.

 

If you can write your signature, that's all you really need it for - most people seem to print in today's world, and typed sentiment via cell phone or computer is becoming more and more prominent in most matters that require a signature. If I can have my unique signature, I think that's all I need it for - hence why I haven't tried learning it for all these years that have passed since I missed it.

[Khaoios 1,970]

Personally, it was mandatory to know throughout grade school and high school, so I was somewhat "skilled" with it.  Now, I prefer print, b/c its much neater and easier for me to read, yet the only time I write in script is writing my signature.  That's pretty much it. 

[Shady Bubbles 429]

Ahh, cursive writing. We learned it in 3rd grade, and I've only used it since to sign off on important things like checks and contracts. It's beautiful, but impractical as not many people can read it. I can, but the newer generation of kids will not be taught how to read or write cursive (my sister still wouldn't know had I not taught her myself).

 

 

I leave with this. Can you read it?

"Page writing, sometimes called body writing, requires the ixercise (?) of all the skill we possess in using the pen. Care should be taken in the arrangement of the writing"

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

Though I could read the example you provided, there are examples out there of illegible cursive written by people that use it regularly lol.  I think its worth is highly suspect; one need only learn the characters in their name for the sake of a signature.  And even signatures can be rather unique / exaggerated and deviate from "proper" cursive.  I much prefer print; I generally know what the hay you've written if you print.  And nowadays so many people type up their correspondence that other perceivable benefits of cursive are vanishing.  I think it's pretty when executed well..  That's about it. xD  If I care about the message I'm conveying it will be in print.  If I'm signing something I'll of course use cursive, but it won't be pretty.  And I've yet to encounter someone who cared. *shrugs*

[Celtore 2,769]

I learned it in third and fourth grade. We had to write out "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" three times at the end of the fourth-grade year. I don't think it's a useless skill at all. I use it when I don't want my neighbour to copy my notes!

 

To be fair though, its only real purpose these days for everyday people is to form or read a signature. This is both useful for formal and informal documents, my friends have asked me to sign off birthday cards in the past because I can write in fancy fairly well. Printing a signature is just silly, I think I'd much rather take a random scribble than just someone's name written out plainly.

 

I don't see why cursive shouldn't be taught though; even though it isn't frequently used, it still has its practical uses. Plus it's taught around grades 2 or 3, you aren't exactly analyzing Hamlet yet.

[Cassafrass 249]

Well, I feel like the only one in this thread who actually thinks cursive is worth learning... for one, it helps me personally to write much faster then before. Two, it is really beautiful imo, and looks much better to look at when written as a signature then it would not having been. Although I will say this - be wary of what type of cursive you learn. Now for guys, I don't think cursive is essential... but for me being a girl, I enjoy it very much. Not to say that a guy can't learn it if he wants too! Anyways, be careful which style you choose as some can look "messy" like once written down on a piece of paper.

 

Wow that was such a long rant on a topic that isn't MLP, lol.

[Azure Envy 1,092]

I had to learn it in elementary school as well and even though I don't use it very much, I also think its a skill worth learning. When writing notes, I sometimes hybridize print and cursive in order to write faster and keep up with lecture, so there's always that benefit for me.

 

It's also great practice for penmanship in general and reminds me of a time when there was emphasis on writing legibly instead of throwing everyone into a "keyboard proficiency" based curriculum or whatever they call it now.

[Krampus 197]

I actually like cursive. My feelings on whether or not it's art are a bit mixed, but overall, I enjoy it. True, I only write it for signatures and other such important things, but there's a certain...class, to it. That's the best way I can describe it. It does sadden me that my generation will be the last that learns cursive, but I guess certain things just fall out of favor.

[Nulln 754]

It's pretty much just so you can write faster.  But yeah, signatures generally need to be in cursive.  I can't imagine schools aren't teaching it anymore.  Like how they aren't all teaching kids how to read time on a clock anymore.

[Azure Envy 1,092]

It's pretty much just so you can write faster.  But yeah, signatures generally need to be in cursive.  I can't imagine schools aren't teaching it anymore.  Like how they aren't all teaching kids how to read time on a clock anymore.

 

They're not teaching kids to read clocks?

 

You're joking.

 

Because watches and clocks have been replaced by smartphones. I'll just ask Siri what time it is.

[Diamondeye83 49]

Cursive is totally useless except for that one part on the sat and signatures. That's from my experience at least. But I suppose that it might be useful in some fields.

[Graveyard Duck 150]

Aside from my signature, I'm pretty sure the last time I used cursive was for my SAT essay. I think it's...interesting...that they require it for that essay but for absolutely nothing you actually use in college.

[Magpie 621]

Wait, schools don't teach cursive anymore? Whaaaaaaaat? Why not? What do people do if they need to sign things? Do they just do it in print and get their signature forged all the time? We had to practice it every week or so from like 2nd to 6th grade.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Brosparkles

[Nulln 754]

They're not teaching kids to read clocks?

 

You're joking.

 

Because watches and clocks have been replaced by smartphones. I'll just ask Siri what time it is.

What if they get lost in the woods with no cell service or charger and need to make a sundial?  They'll never know how to read it.  :okiedokielokie:

[Kel_Grym 1,917]

I know a little about Typology.

 

First of all as far as efficiency goes, plain text is the way to go. Period. Cursive is not a useful skill overall, but it CAN be an art form.

 

Calligraphy.

 

Different kinds of fonts have give different impressions to the reader, and these pronounced effects are utilized in the field of ad design. Coca-cola uses a cursive font as do other things, carry an older, more classical and refined "aura," if you will, about them.

 

If Coca-cola used Comic sans, instead of cursive, then its sales would drop immensely.

 

The only practical use of cursive outside of this is in the tradition of "signatures."

 

When I first got on board with my probation, I was signing papers as I usually do...in print. (I never learned to make a cursive signature.)

 

The probation officer with me at the time, criticized me for it. He couldn't understand why I didn't have a cursive signature.

 

Really, apart from art and advertising, cursive is useless.

[Quarium 108]

From a Cracked article:

 

Why It's Inefficient:

There's a reason nobody can read your

goddamn signature -- cursive is hard to read.

Many colleges forbid students from turning in

exams written in cursive and present lectures via

PowerPoint, not pretty P's and looping L's. Some

say writing in cursive can help brain

development, but so can printing. Also, kids can

type far faster than they can write in cursive,

and they can work on their grammar, syntax,

spelling and idea flow much more efficiently on

a computer than they can with a quill pen and

parchment.

 

But the main argument against cursive comes

down simply to an allocation of classroom

resources. If you somehow already know cursive,

fine, but in these days of stretched school

budgets and limited teaching time, some

wonder whether we should really be devoting

school resources to the world's stupidest way of

putting words on paper.

Yet 90 percent of schools are still spending the

recommended 60 weekly minutes teaching their

second- and third-graders cursive. If that hour is

going in, what are we sacrificing? Math? Cultural

diversity? Phys ed? Our fat, racist, counting-on-

their-fingers kids don't need to know how to

make flowery Z's. Or at least, they need to know

a lot of other things more.

[Sunshower Raindrops 3,227]

I always right my name in cursive so is a yah for cursive. Though I do remember watching a Dnews video talking about how cursive will be dead soon.