Cursive Writing or is it Cursed Writing?

   I recently received a very nice note from a person who had read one of my columns a week or two ago. After reading it I put the note down for a minute but then picked it up again. The handwriting was beautiful. The note was not typed or printed, but written in cursive. It was obvious this person had learned cursive writing very well, way back when. Perhaps she had been a teacher, or maybe a calligrapher.
   I am not sure how many people today know what cursive writing is. So, in my best 'Jimmy Olsen' mode, I decided to do some investigating.
   The questions I needed to answer ...........”Is cursive writing still taught in schools? Do students spend hours upon hours practicing the hand motion for each letter and then put them together to spell a word?”    
   The answer was.............”not as much time as in the past.” Computers have changed how we write and students need to recognize letters as they would see them on a computer screen.
   Well, that makes some sense to me, but there must be more.
   I contacted some of my educator friends and posed the questions. The general consensus was that it takes too much time to teach cursive writing and there are so many more important things students need to learn (for the test, of course). With only so many hours in the day, 'something has to give.' Let’s give up handwriting!
   Again, that makes some sense to me, but I am not sure I like where this is heading.
   Children don't like to write any more because in some cases it means putting down their game boy or giving up the cell phone and texting. It was difficult enough to learn to print letters, now we have to transform them into cursive. For those students having difficulty writing, there is a program available called “Handwriting Without Tears.” Are those teacher tears, student tears or parent tears. (Remember the old report cards with a penmanship grade?)
   When I was in high school (that was the early 60's) most teachers required term papers and project  be typed rather than hand written. Even in those days the 'writing was on the wall!' If a student submitted a term paper that was hand written, points were deducted. I wonder how many moms or dads stayed up late at night to type that term paper the night before it was due. (Does spelling count?)
   Colleges have always been on the cutting edge when it comes to being innovative. Professors now want students to email there papers and projects. Saves space and saves a tree or two, but what about the experience of getting a paper returned, bathed in red ink? High school and even middle school teachers are beginning to follow a similar path.
   I am waiting in line at a local bank recently and the person ahead of me is cashing a check. The teller asks the person to sign the back of the check with a signature. A what? Can I print my name? Please?
   So to the person who sent me the hand written cursive note, I thank you, not only for the note but for a reminder of what may become a lost art.