If this article was written in cursive, many wouldn’t bat an eye before setting down the paper and playing a game on their brand new iPhone 6. While practicing cursive writing was all the rage ten years ago, today’s elementary school students are way more concerned with Candy Crush.
I personally remember handwriting classes and the 200 page book with endless dotted lines and margins to write thousands of little loopy letters. I picked up the skill in the second grade and mastered it in third. By sixth grade, I couldn’t connect a T to a Y in cursive if I tried. Now, I couldn’t even begin to read it.
In my opinion, cursive writing is obsolete and forevermore will be. This is not so much to reflect on a style of writing but to focus on a new style of communication all together. With the advancement of technology, the average American reads the daily newspaper on an app or on the internet. Information can be relayed to an individual while they are in their PJ’s lying in bed.
It was stated in an April USA Today story that at least 41 schools no longer require public schools to teach cursive reading or writing. Even though some states have started to prioritize computer and typing skills, many schools haven’t come up with a viable replacement skill to teach.
While many high school students are still using the Dewey Decimal System to find their old and heavy research books, Malvern students enjoy a library filled with laptops and iPads which open a pathway to unlimited knowledge.
Just as cursive writing has become obsolete, so has looking up information manually. With the addition of Google, Wikipedia, and various online databases the only books students need for information are Chromebooks.
I would like to see schools across America with a similar setup to Malvern. There is no point in learning a skill with no application in the real world anymore. Students of the 21st century will find themselves more prepared for the business world with a laptop and a smartphone rather than a quill and inkwell.
It is important for schools to continue educating their students on popular trends and advancements. The work they do in school should directly relate to the work they will be doing in the real world. Someone who can write killer cursive essays in Latin has less power than an 11 year old with a Macbook Pro.
Once again this is something that our school really excels in. The buzz word “collaboration” comes up a lot as a joke and an excuse for not doing your own work. However, it will prove to be a very useful tool in the future.
You will never find yourself in a situation in which you won’t have access to the internet to complete your work assignment. The wonderful creation of YouTube can make an average person learn the basics of a completely unknown task in the matter of minutes and a few ads. That is why it is important to be tested on the information you can access rather than the information you know.
Accessing information is a skill, one you will evaluated on when interviewing for a job. You want to be quick on your feet. You must be ready to not only adjust to new trends but embrace them. This is something schools should teach you.
You should be surrounded with constant application of technology. It is what you’ll see in the future and there is no use in being behind the learning curve.
The world is scary and unpredictable. You need to be prepared for everything it throws at you. It is important for students to be technologically active. Today’s video game playing “nerds” will be tomorrow’s computer designing millionaires.
The times are changing and so must our country’s schools. Recently, Alex Rodriguez wrote an apology letter to the fans for his PED usage. Despite his sincere efforts, no one could take him seriously and only joked about him writing a letter in cursive in an age with technology and twitter.
The only time you should be writing in cursive is to sign your name, like on Rodriguez’s new baseball contract.