The Death of Handwriting

A repost of friend Shelley's...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1912419,00.html?xid=rss-topstories-cnnpartner

I have to admit I always thought cursive writing was a big waste of time. Why in the world would we learn to print in kindergarten, only to re-learn the whole thing in 3rd grade? And let me tell you, mine was bad - partly because I broke my arm in 4th grade during some of our main handwriting learning time, but partly because I'm just bad at writing. The minute I wasn't forced to use it, I stopped. And the minute I learned how to type more than 10 words a minute, I stopped writing altogether basically. I sign my name. I occasionally write a phone number or a grocery list.

I used to occasionally go through and write the whole cursive alphabet just to see if I could remember it, if I was somewhere bored and had absolutely nothing else to do. I'd now see this as a waste of time over twiddling my thumbs.

So, I don't mourn the death of handwriting at all - I think we all still need to learn to write, but not to the point of obsession, and certainly not cursive!!!!