General Discussion

SheltieLover

(60,355 posts)

21. Depends on the job, but geneally I'd say yes.

Thu Dec 26, 2024, 03:25 PM

Thursday

There was a recent post citing a healthcare worker who was unable to read a cursive note left for the worker which allegedly caused harm to the patient.

Why the hell can't people read cursive? I know schools quit teaching it, but is it really that big of a stretch or maladaptive brains? Guessing the latter.

I highly recommend reading "The Aanxious Generation."

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If a person cannot read or write cursive, are they "functionally illiterate?" [View all] PeaceWave Thursday OP

No, and sigh: 'not this shit again'. Voltaire2 Thursday #1

𝒮𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜? mahatmakanejeeves Thursday #5

not actually cursive, 'cursive like'. Voltaire2 Thursday #7

If I wrote it in my own handwriting, no one could read it. mahatmakanejeeves Thursday #14

I can't read mine. multigraincracker Thursday #26

" If I wrote it in my own handwriting" - ok, Dr. Mahatmakanejeeves FSogol Thursday #47

I am getting Rebl2 Thursday #63

Agree with Voltaire 2 indigovalley Thursday #16

Or people could learn the skill SheltieLover Thursday #24

but why? It isn't required for any practical skills. Voltaire2 Thursday #38

Pls see post 15 & 21 below SheltieLover Thursday #41

Many other things make that connection and are much more practical JCMach1 Thursday #79

There is no excuse for relinquishing any common form of communication SheltieLover Thursday #82

Do you do calligraphy? Long math? Use a slide rule? JCMach1 Yesterday #83

Those are obviously not common forms of communication SheltieLover Yesterday #84

Can you read Middle English? What about Old English? JCMach1 Yesterday #86

Pls see posts #15 & 21 SheltieLover Yesterday #87

Message auto-removed Name removed Yesterday #90

Language literacy and grammar evolve JCMach1 20 hrs ago #96

That's just it: it is no longer a "common form of communication" NickB79 20 hrs ago #97

Clearly it is or these employees wouldn't be fired. jimfields33 9 hrs ago #120

Exactly Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #124

Why? Ms. Toad Thursday #43

very good point. raccoon Yesterday #91

+9999 krawhitham Thursday #18

My daugher is 16 DeepWinter Thursday #27

I always saw it as a creative opportunity TexasBushwhacker 16 hrs ago #119

When I learned cursive it was the opposite of a creative opportunity. Mariana 6 hrs ago #132

As well as pencils to that same degree. Torchlight Thursday #61

So much shit is being thrown to the wayside by the new generation. William769 23 hrs ago #95

Their schools and their teachers failed them by not teaching cursive in grade school FakeNoose 17 hrs ago #112

Well said. Captain Stern 16 hrs ago #113

You called it. ThreeNoSeep 16 hrs ago #114

It's clearly not Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #122

That's a tough one. I think it will, if it hasn't already, become a 'specialized' skill. Joinfortmill Thursday #2

handwriting need not be 'cursive'. Voltaire2 Thursday #8

I believe in this conversation we are discussing cursive. Joinfortmill Thursday #19

Slight correction Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #121

This needs to be underscored. Displayed prominently on the web page is: JHB 6 hrs ago #142

Not all cursive is the same. padfun Thursday #3

Put cursive back in schools. Problem solved. jimfields33 Thursday #4

90 days? Thats funny.. getagrip_already Thursday #34

Maybe you're right. jimfields33 Thursday #35

Better to solve the problem by teaching an actual useful skill Orrex 16 hrs ago #117

I could see not writing it but seriously, how hard is it to decipher your own language? It's not cuneiform ffs Blues Heron Thursday #6

Depends on the chicken scratch you are trying to decipher krawhitham Thursday #20

Yup. Ms. Toad Thursday #77

Partly claudette Thursday #9

I have been reading/writing cursive for most of my life The Madcap Thursday #10

No being able to read cursive writing isn't an handicap LogDog75 Thursday #11

That makes too much sense. Haggard Celine 8 hrs ago #129

In 2024, no. RockRaven Thursday #12

But shorthand was never universal among literate people SheltieLover Thursday #23

I haven't needed that function for a looooong time. Iggo Thursday #13

Errors can be deadly... (or at least lead to massive liability--even for an accounting firm but more so elsewhere) hlthe2b Thursday #15

Concur with this Sympthsical Thursday #22

The failure to understand by so many on this thread, to use their imagination as to where hlthe2b Thursday #29

I'm with you SheltieLover Thursday #44

Alternatively is there a reason that those places that still use cursive actually use it or is it a relic? EdmondDantes_ Thursday #50

I wrote here and in great detail upstream why this is not the case now. Given you refuse to read hlthe2b Thursday #51

Speaking for myself, it's not that we don't understand, we just don't agree. Emrys Thursday #62

Why should an entire office abandon using cursive just because a new employee isn't able to read it? n/t MichMan Thursday #71

Because it could save lives? That seems a good enough reason to me. Emrys Thursday #75

If the computer system Karma13612 6 hrs ago #137

Maybe there's a good reason why organizations distributing hard-copy forms to be filled out Emrys 4 hrs ago #144

Thank you! Agree 100%- eom Karma13612 6 hrs ago #131

Absolutely! SheltieLover Thursday #45

The problem was that some idiot thought that writing a note in cursive... hunter Yesterday #88

way to TOTALLY miss the point. hlthe2b Yesterday #92

Thank you!!!! Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #125

What kind of a hospital uses cursive for warning labels? ThreeNoSeep 18 hrs ago #105

I get that you have no clue that hospitals have records that include scanned notes, as does their pharmacy hlthe2b 18 hrs ago #106

When the debate opponent puts words in your mouth or makes assumptions about your past ThreeNoSeep 17 hrs ago #110

Again, you show you have no clue about what several of us are speaking to in medicine hlthe2b 17 hrs ago #111

Can I just say... Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #128

What you "think" doesn't make it true... appmanga 17 hrs ago #108

It is not merely what I think. It is fact and 24 states thus far are putting cursive back in educational hlthe2b 17 hrs ago #109

I am relieved to Karma13612 6 hrs ago #141

Thank you for this Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #126

Bravo!!!!! Karma13612 6 hrs ago #133

Lockout/tagout was standard procedure decades ago where I worked Mariana 6 hrs ago #135

Certainly not canetoad Thursday #17

Depends on the job, but geneally I'd say yes. SheltieLover Thursday #21

One more instance of the disdain people have for preceding generations. Everone should be taught to READ cursive. LAS14 Thursday #25

No... Mike Nelson Thursday #28

LOL Prairie Gates Thursday #30

My Take ProfessorGAC Thursday #31

As evidenced by your students, the bulk of it ought to be decipherable... consider_this Thursday #59

Had A Thought ProfessorGAC Thursday #65

I quite like your idea, especially... consider_this Thursday #80

no. BlueWaveNeverEnd Thursday #32

Late boomer here. I haven't written in true cursive since college exams the 1980s. Eugene Thursday #33

Me neither. Mike 03 Thursday #37

The test shouldn't be "can I read this person's handwriting" Mike 03 Thursday #36

I suppose I could have written software in cursive. Voltaire2 Thursday #42

If reading cursive was a job requirement, it.should have been stated as such clearly and up-front 0rganism Thursday #39

There are dozens of job duties for nearly every job that aren't specifically mentioned in job requirements MichMan Thursday #52

So you're comparing not reading cursive to showing up drunk and swearing at customers? 0rganism Thursday #66

I'm saying people can & are held accountable for a myriad of things that aren't specifically mentioned in an interview MichMan Thursday #70

Well, there's cursive and there's curse-ive 0rganism Thursday #73

Reading and writing cursive is a skill, not drinking on the job and not stealing aren't skills. Ms. Toad Thursday #78

Agreed it doesn't make them "illiterate"; but snot Thursday #40

I had to learn cursive.... Xolodno Thursday #46

No. Of course not. NT Happy Hoosier Thursday #48

So what happens to legal documents if someone doesn't have a "signature"? Presume allegorical oracle Thursday #49

It doesn't have to be cursive. It can just be terrible handwriting. sakabatou Thursday #53

No. Xoan Thursday #54

How do you sign you name if you don't know cursive? bif Thursday #55

Like many of these anecdotes about the world of work and "the younger generation", Emrys Thursday #56

Just Google the scribbles The Madcap Thursday #57

Of course they're not functionally illiterate, but Susan Calvin Thursday #58

Don't think Rebl2 Thursday #60

If you can't write cursive how do sign a check, like in the westerns where they made their mark? doc03 Thursday #64

I rarely sign checks nowadays, but when I do, my signature's degraded into a stylized squiggle. Emrys Thursday #68

I remember getting my first letter that was printed out from a computer Mossfern Thursday #67

cursive is also good brain exercise. WarGamer Thursday #69

I can write cursive with both hands -- and no_hypocrisy Thursday #72

While I ForgedCrank Thursday #74

No. Would that exclude Braille? underpants Thursday #76

Although I think everyone should know it, I also feel that's it's kinda dumb to use it in 2024 Polybius Thursday #81

No, they aren't. No one is taught cursive in schools anymore. iemanja Yesterday #85

Another generation-division post. It means the employee isn't ambitious enough to take a little time to learn, doesn't betsuni Yesterday #89

If it's clearly written there shouldn't be any problem. BlueTsunami2018 Yesterday #93

Wow, we were taught cursive starting in the first grade. Emile 23 hrs ago #94

Replace "cursive" with "Latin" and see how silly this discussion sounds NickB79 19 hrs ago #98

I learning Latin is a good deal more difficult thucythucy 18 hrs ago #104

I'd make them read the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence Historic NY 19 hrs ago #99

no, unless the hire didn't think to plug it into an AI, in which case yes cadoman 19 hrs ago #100

If a person cannot read or write classic Latin, are they functionally illiterate? DBoon 18 hrs ago #101

I look at this from the other direction Unwind Your Mind 18 hrs ago #102

Writing in cursive is one of the few things the young people around me are highly impressed by. appmanga 18 hrs ago #103

Teaching kids cursive is actually quite easy and I did it as "bell work" every morning. La Coliniere 18 hrs ago #107

Teaching adults cursive is even easier. Mariana 6 hrs ago #140

No. Just because something is illegible to you does not mean you're illiterate. WhiskeyGrinder 16 hrs ago #115

Lol @ obsolete hobby skills dubiously deemed essential Orrex 16 hrs ago #116

All offense intended, but that partner sounds like an asshole Rob H. 16 hrs ago #118

I wouldn't call it illiterate. In this case, I would say, they lack a skill that is required for this particular job. Betty Boom 8 hrs ago #123

I'm much more interested in people who know how to use a keyboard than read/produce scribble. Gore1FL 8 hrs ago #127

Consequence comes home to roost... dobleremolque 7 hrs ago #130

Did it occur to you to give the kid a handwriting book Mariana 6 hrs ago #138

. dobleremolque 3 hrs ago #145

I had a mild stroke in 2016. Jeebo 6 hrs ago #134

No, they are not "functionally illiterate" Renew Deal 6 hrs ago #136

Just did a quick job search. There are 75+ jobs listing the ability to read cursive. Renew Deal 6 hrs ago #139

Bookmarking! Drum 5 hrs ago #143