Students debate over the necessity of cursive writing

Last June of this year, the Ohio House passed a bill that will put an impact on the education system. First introduced in February of 2017, House Bill 58 requires that students are taught cursive writing from kindergarten to the fifth grade. A couple weeks ago, the Senate passed the same bill. Congress is working to revise the bill before governor John Kasich signs it.

While Congress is working to put the bill into law, citizens all over America are scrambling to debate over the topic.

When I sent out a survey to students asking for their opinion of teaching cursive in schools, I was shocked by the amount of people who were in support of the idea. A whopping 76.8% of the 56 students who responded support the idea of making cursive writing a requirement in schools.

One student states, “If you cannot write in cursive but are required to sign a legal document, you must sign your name (write in cursive) otherwise it can be considered void. Additionally, it appears unprofessional if one doesn't know how to write their signature. While I believe all cursive should be taught, everyone at the very least should be taught how to sign their name if they don't already know how.”

“I think it’s a fundamental skill that people need to know how to do. Learning how to write it would also help us to read it, which can be difficult since our class is one of the first that hasn’t learned cursive. I’m honestly a little upset that we didn’t learn it just because it is still used a lot today,” another student claims.

With an opposing view, one student argues, “No one ever uses it except to make a fancy signature. I could list a million other things we should be learning in school but cursive is not one of them. Maybe make it a choice to learn? Cursive is not worth the time, just use print. It's not hard.”

“It’s not necessary for children to be taught a different form of writing that many already don’t know how to do,” another student says.

In addition, I also got the opinions of several language arts teachers.

“Students need the discipline required in cursive writing. It promotes neater handwriting. Students also need to be able to read texts/letters/documents written in cursive.” states Mrs. Jimenez, in support for cursive writing.

Mr. Albrecht claims, “It is outdated and not used by people any longer. It could be taught in an art class, such as calligraphy.”

To conclude in summary, many people are torn on the issue of teaching cursive writing in schools, with some people supporting the idea of making cursive writing mandatory and with others against the idea.