by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
When I try to write a note to a friend, I always have to do it more than once. Since I use a computer almost exclusively, my handwriting has become terrible. However, I assumed that handwriting was still being taught late in 2nd grade.
Education Week reports 26% of 12th graders lack basic proficiency in writing. With the increased attention to basic skills, what was always called penmanship has been shunted aside. Text messaging, email and word processing have replaced handwriting outside the classroom and students see little reason to send a message manually when it can be sent electronically.
Kathleen Wright, product manager for Zaner Bloser, a well-known company that produces a variety of instructional material for schools, tells parents and advocates of better handwriting, the same fear about losing handwriting skill surfaced with the advent of the typewriter.
Some kids like cursive writing! This year more than 200,000 kids entered the company’s national handwriting competition.
As one teacher put it, “What if we were on an island with no electricity? You’d have to communicate with writing!”
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