The Death of Handwriting

Keyboards and keypads surround us. We type memos and reports and blog entries, we send emails, and we tap out text messages.

On the one hand, the rise of the computer seems to have increased the practice of ordinary people putting their thoughts in writing. On the other hand, it has also resulted in a decline of the handwritten word.

Physicians have long been notorious for poor handwriting--particularly on prescriptions like the one above, which is from the MethodistMD website.

In an article entitled "The Handwriting is on the Wall," The Washington Post reported last fall that

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters.

According to the Post, the problem is not just the proliferation of keyboards in our lives. Schools have significantly reduced the time spent on cursive, which was practiced as much as two hours a week in the 1940s and 50s. Susan Bowen points out in "Handwriting: A Key to Literacy" that

For years, colleges of education have largely ignored methodology of handwriting instruction. When more than 200 primary school teachers were asked if they felt prepared to teach handwriting, 90 percent responded that they did not. Very few, if any, colleges of education offer courses in the teaching of handwriting.

The concern from a number of educators is that the ability to write in cursive offers more benefits than simply producing legible handwriting. The Post notes,

The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive opportunity missed. The neurological process that directs thought, through fingers, into written symbols is a highly sophisticated one. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better -- a lifelong benefit.

Perhaps not all is lost, however. The Guardian notes Patricia Lovett, fellow of the Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society, says the death of handwriting has been "greatly exaggerated." Maybe so. Britain is now running a National Handwriting Competition.

On the other hand, it's probably a good thing I'm typing this entry. My handwriting is pretty bad.