I Just Learned That They Don't Teach Cursive Writing In Schools These Days.....

[Xithras]

123. Cursive was taught because it was the language of business...long ago.

Back when I was a kid, we were taught two methods of writing. Printing, which was used for informal writing, and cursive, which was for formal and business use. Kids today are still taught to print, so they KNOW how to write, but they are no longer taught cursive because it NO LONGER HAS ANY RELEVANCE.

Cursive is not used in business any longer. It's all printing or typing. A hand written report in the modern office environment is considered amateurish and unprofessional. Cursive is not used in formal correspondence anymore. What little formal correspondence still occurs is almost exclusively typed. People don't WRITE personal letters anymore, with that form of communication being nearly entirely eliminated in favor of typing. Heck, we don't even use it in education. When I was teaching (college) courses, I'd occasionally have a student hand me a paper that was completely handwritten, often using cursive writing. I would always, without exception, hand them the paper back and tell them to type it up on a computer and turn it in again. My syllabus prohibited hand written assignments, as did the syllabi of nearly every instructor I worked with. I usually let students slide ONCE by giving them an extra day (so they wouldn't take a hit for it being late), but that was as far as my graciousness extended. Do it twice and you take a 10% per day late assignment hit.

Cursive has no practical place in the modern world, which is why it's no longer taught in many states. With all the things schools have to cover, why waste time on something so antiquated and purposeless? Some school districts have maintained it as a fine art, which I have no problem with, but there's no purpose in forcing EVERY kid to study something they'll never use again.