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Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17852
Posted: 26 September 2026 at 7:07pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

As a career educator, I am constantly thinking about many of the things mentioned in this thread.

My current school has been using Chromebooks for most academic instruction for years, but we are now significantly reducing the amount of screen time students receive in classes. (State-mandated assessments are computer-based though, and students have to use educational technology often enough to be comfortable for that.)

I recently saw a student with a physical book try to swipe up with a finger, catch himself mid-second swipe, then turn the page.

Just yesterday I challenged two kids who were asking me about cursive to learn it. We値l see how that goes.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8689
Posted: 26 September 2026 at 11:42pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Nobody seems to know how to handwrite in cursive anymore.
覧覧覧覧�-
Hence the stylus. They write cursive and are expected to do so with their
stylus.
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Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5765
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 12:18am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I have students write in cursive on their art papers. Honestly, I can't read most of it. But I can barely read my own cursive. I gave up on cursive in Jr. High and found that, years later, I had a hard time remembering how to even make the letters.
I don't think cursive is a life skill. I do still think we should teach kids to reach analog clocks though. You still see plenty of those!
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11715
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 6:46am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I am not a fan of cursive. I find it slows my reading down,
and i often can't read it at all depending on who has
written it. I wasn't keen on it's use in Batman Year One, i
understand why it was used, but it jarred with the usually
easy to read comic type. As a form of written communication
i think purposely making it unclear makes no sense!



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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 454
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

From my understanding, the benefits of cursive come when it is taught in the younger grades, where it helps young minds develop their working memory, language fluency, and fine motor skills. It requires kids to be more active in their writing, which has a positive effect on their retainment of information. 

Cursive is also beneficial for kids with dyslexia, particularly because the structure of cursive lettering has far fewer letters that can be commonly "reversed." 

We were mandated to teach cursive by our government a few years back. To be honest, I only make a half-assed attempt. There are just so many other deficits in these kids in 5th and 6th grade, it feels like I'm trying to put out a house fire with a garden hose. 
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Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5765
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Concerning screens in school. My state banned cell phones during school hours, except when used for educational or medical purposes. No change for me since my elementary school never allowed kids to have phones during the day. The disappointing result of this is that the biggest pushback has come from parents. They are obsessed with having access to their teens/tweens at all times, and want them to carry phones so they can text them all day long, even during class...
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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8703
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 5:24pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I came across an old letter from my mom years after she passed away, and I was struck by how *beautiful* her cursive handwriting was. It could almost have been considered calligraphy, but to her it was just the way she wrote every day. Every letter had an impeccable consistency and structure.

It made me sad to see - because she never made anything of herself, but I could see that she had an artistic side that she was never encouraged to tap into. I wish I took more notice while she was still alive, but it took me time to be detached from it to realize how special it was. I've been complimented on my own handwriting, and clearly I was influenced my her style, but still I can't hold a candle to it.
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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 137143
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 5:36pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

My own mother had extraordinarily elaborate cursive handwriting. Thing is, it wasn稚 an affectation on her part. It was simply the way she壇 been taught in the �20s, and it had stuck with her throughout her life.

In contrast, my father痴 cursive was a barely legible scrawl. His family was of a lower social class than my mother痴, and he had gone to a less impressive school.

He worked hard his whole life to escape his background. But his handwriting never improved.

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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8689
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

My mum痴 was also elaborate. My dad痴 was terrible.
Mine is terrible, while my wife� I壇 beautiful.
My son痴 is terrible.

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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 454
Posted: 27 September 2026 at 8:17pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

I recall a few years back, the Library of Congress was looking for volunteers who knew how to read cursive because that too was a dying skill. Dad brag moment: one of the early indicators we had about my son痴 intelligence was how, as a kindergartener, he could read cursive as easily as print. 
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