“They don’t even teach cursive writing anymore in school.”

“Students should learn cursive!”

“We need to go back to basics, starting with teaching cursive writing again.”

I’ve heard enough of the arguments and I propose a counter-argument:

Why?

In thinking about it, cursive is a writing system that is no longer necessary outside of an aesthetic appeal or nostalgia. As someone who loves pen and paper, I’ve had no use for cursive writing since high school and the few University exams I wrote.

The only reason students would be pushed to learn it is for a career in academia where they would be researching documents written in some form of cursive. While the push in education has always been to prime students for University, this is a trend that’s slowly dissipating, even though many still hold onto the myth that a University degree equates to a great job with a decent starting salary. The many that are holding onto this myth aren’t the students — even though they are being pushed in that direction.*

This isn’t to say I’m pushing for devices as the alternative, but a more sensible approach to what’s really necessary.

For those who argue cursive is a more efficient and faster way to write: no.

Shorthand is much faster and incredibly more efficient. Two years ago I spent a significant amount of time teaching myself a shorthand system because I wanted to be more efficient in my handwriting. Cursive was not the solution and doesn’t save me any time over my printing.

And yes, we used to teach shorthand in schools. My mother, who watched me practice while visiting, brightened up saying she was a master at Pitman shorthand during school and it was useful in one of her first big jobs. Then she learned how to type and never used it again.

I think the appeal of cursive is its nostalgia for those who spent countless hours learning it in school. Aesthetically, some people also have beautiful writing and it’s a pleasure to read through their words.

However, I’ve yet to see any legal form that asks me to use cursive to fill in information. “Please print legibly” seems to be the norm and perhaps that’s where our focus should be.

The only exception is the signature line.

In thinking about it, what seems to be a better use of time:

Getting students to learn an entire way of writing they will never use outside the walls of school, unless for personal and aesthetic reasons or teaching them how to sign their name?

*In no way do I speak against the many other benefits of post-secondary education. To consider it nothing more than a stepping stone for employment, however, completely diminishes what it really has to offer.