As special sections editor at the Leader, I manage eight photo contests, a recipe contest and a veterans section each year.
From a picture of a grandchild’s first birthday to a family’s cheeseball recipe, I take what readers send in and prepare them for print.
While many entries are typed into the body of an email, some are still sent in through snail mail with messages scrawled in – you guessed it – cursive.
I will be the first to admit my handwriting is sloppy, and I have sympathy for ugly writing.
That being said, cursive was not created with the reader (in this case, me) in mind.
Deciphering poor penmanship relies a lot on the context clues of surrounding words. A difficult enough task with print, this becomes insurmountable with all the extra swoops and swirls.
Often, an uncommon proper noun causes me to edit around a word entirely.
Heck, even a name as simple as “James” may be misread as “Janet,” or maybe that’s “Janice”?
And I know people, especially those older than me, can be awfully protective about cursive. I’ve contained an eyeroll or two when someone complains about future generations being unable to read the original U.S. Declaration of Independence, which was finalized in the tight, swooping penmanship made possible by a fluffy feather pen.
The topic came up recently while working on props for a community theater production. We were creating a scroll, which needed a beautifully flourished cursive signature at the bottom.
“I can’t do cursive,” I said to a fellow techie.
As she opened her mouth, I clarified: “At least, I can’t make it look pretty.”
“Oh, I was going to say!” she replied. “You’re not THAT young.”
(Yowch.)
Yes, to be clear, I was taught cursive and can (usually) read it just fine.
The elaborate writing style seemed like fanciful, forbidden knowledge in the years leading up to its introduction. On more than one occasion, a primary school teacher had to assure my class that yes, we would learn cursive when we reached third grade, but for now let’s maybe focus on fine-tuning the motor skills necessary for it.
In third grade, we were reunited with that lined writing paper we’d used in our early school days to first learn the alphabet.
At that point, it had been years since we had needed to write so slowly just to form a single letter. With utmost focus, we carefully traced our pencils from cursive A to Z, a seemingly new language for both uppercase and lowercase.
Our teacher drilled into our heads that every assignment until we graduated and entered the workforce would require cursive.
Turns out, he may have been exaggerating.
Many students kept using cursive out of habit in the years following, but other teachers seemed more concerned about having handwriting that was legible, print or cursive or otherwise.
These days, teaching the ability to read and write cursive is not a requirement for Missouri schools. Since Common Core standards removed cursive from its kindergarten through 12th-grade educational requirements in 2010, some states have carried the torch anyway. Other states have since followed the lead, and there are currently about 25 states that require cursive education.
Writing by hand is certainly still an important skill despite the prevalence of keyboards and screens.
By the time kids reach third grade, a refresher on handwriting that challenges them to slow down and learn cursive, a completely new way of writing, is absolutely helpful.
So, while I don’t think cursive is obsolete, its use has changed.
After mastering script for the first time, switching back to print felt slow and clunky. Many students, me included, incorporated elements of cursive into their print writing in order to take down quicker notes.
Outside of our little classroom, handwriting has had a long history of shifting to meet society’s needs.
One of the earliest versions of written script was developed by ancient Romans. After the fall of the Roman empire, penmanship was a specialized practice that became standardized in the late eighth century by order of King Charlemagne.
Over time, this style, which was relatively simple, gained the flourishes more comparable to modern cursive. Printing presses mimicked the style, which was then used in handwriting curriculum.
The founding fathers penned the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution with the neat, tight cursive that developed in 16th century Europe. While not the most difficult to read, the repeated thick and thin brushstrokes make my vision swim.
Educators eventually developed simplified styles that were easier for students to pick up, and with the rise of industry and clerical jobs, cursive was further streamlined for swift writing and notetaking.
Though many today hold modern cursive in high esteem, the practice has changed a ton over the centuries and looks quite different from era to era.
And want to know the kicker?
The first people who saw the Declaration aside from its original writers, clerks and typesetters didn’t even read it in cursive!
Soon after the document was signed, about 200 copies were printed and dispersed, eventually popping up in newspapers across the colonies in a simple, serif typeface similar to what can be found in any given paperback novel.
Some generals were instructed to read the document aloud, no reading required for the troops.
So, no, I don’t think cursive needs to be taught in order to save humanity from some moral failing. Handwriting, conveying information and fostering understanding should be the focus.
It would at least make my job a lot easier.