Indiana Wants To Keep Cursive Handwriting On The Curriculum

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Dec 1, 2011 11:30PM

Earlier this year the Indiana Department of Education decided to remove cursive handwriting from the state's curriculum, but now some lawmakers want to make it mandatory instead. Two lawmakers said they plan to submit bills when they reconvene in 2012.

The education department's directive doesn't ban the teaching of cursive handwriting in class, and many teachers say they're still using it. NWI Times writes:

"We haven't totally dropped the concept," (Jim Rice, superintendent of River Forest Community School Corp.) said. "Teachers touch on cursive writing. We're not buying the handbooks like we used to, but we are still emphasizing the techniques. We also are not directly teaching keyboarding. But as teachers are showing students how to use computers, we are working on keyboarding skills."

Is cursive really necessary in the digital age? We remember cursive as the hardest subject to tackle in elementary school, and we learned more than we cared to know about the letter C on our report cards. Aside from learning the shame of crummy penmanship, apparently we were also developing motor skills "being able to write easily allows children in later elementary grades to focus on the content of their narratives."

We keep wondering one thing, though: If an entire generation grows up without learning cursive, how will they sign their name? Granted most people make a half-assed scribbled attempt at a signature as it is, but surely the digital age will still require a fair amount of paperwork.