General Discussion

ProfessorGAC

(70,636 posts)

31. My Take

Thu Dec 26, 2024, 03:46 PM

Thursday

In my 6 years of substituting, I have regularly used cursive on the whiteboard.
I've never encountered a student, middle or high school, that can't read it.
I've even had kids say "I can't read that." I reply "Sure you can; what does it say?" The number who can actually read it is 100% so far.
It's not in Japanese or Klingon. It's still in English.
In fact, I've seen junior high kids writing in cursive to show off that they know how. Language arts teachers tell me they have 2 to 5 kids in every class that turn in their work in cursive.
I think we are seeing a diminshment in the use of cursive, but it's not really because people can't. It's more a choice to stay with printed text.

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Highlight:

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 19 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 22 hrs ago #95

Their schools and their teachers failed them by not teaching cursive in grade school FakeNoose 16 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 5 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 7 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 17 hrs ago #105

I get that you have no clue that hospitals have records that include scanned notes, as does their pharmacy hlthe2b 17 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 16 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 5 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 17 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 17 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