Why Learn Cursive Writing?
Printing teaches and reinforces the symbol language necessary to communicate in the print form, e.g., books. It does not and is not likely in the near future to replace cursive. Cursive is faster to accomplish than printing and therefore very useful in note taking and communication.
Although great strides in voice recognition technology have been made for computers and other electronic devices, they are not perfect, nor are they easily checked for accuracy in a quick moment of note taking. Cursive notes are easy to check.
Often people are judged by their penmanship. People frequently compliment a fine, clear, or ornate penmanship. Poor penmanship is sometimes considered a sign of an undereducated person. If the person with poor penmanship is a highly educated professional then poor penmanship is sheer aggravation to him and others. He is wasting not only his own time, but also that of others as they have to hunt him down to verify what his lousy handwriting actually says. He had better hope they bother.
It is thought by many that a printed signature is easier to forge. Since experts did not agree, I called the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) headquarters in Washington, D.C. They transferred my call to their handwriting expert, who could be anywhere, downtown Toledo, Ohio for all I know. I didn’t catch the man’s name as he was too busy getting mine. When asked, “Which is easier to forge, printing or cursive handwriting?” I received an in-depth answer of, “It depends.” When I asked, “Is a scrawled signature easier to forge than one with well formed letters?” I received the same in-depth answer, “It depends.” Faced with such detail, I went back to work…thinking. This is the answer I came up with.
It will depend upon the skill of the forger. If he has a lot of time to learn the way you sign your name or can copy one of your signatures by using the same ink, pen, and paper that you normally use, then he might be successful. Catching him might also depend upon the expertise of the law enforcement agency in charge. Therefore, the conclusion I reached is this: Trying to make a signature un-forgeable by scrawling an unclear signature is not the protection from forgery it is commonly held to be.
Fellow authoress, Starla Kaye, attended a seminar on white collar crime. At the seminar, she learned from a professional handwriting analyst and certified document examiner that criminals who try to forge a signature by copying it are more easily caught than those who scrawl something similar.
Beautifully executed initials would be more admired by others than an unreadable wavy line that could be made by anyone’s two-year-old cousin running amok with an ink pen in his fist.
Elegant handwriting is often thought of not only as an accomplishment, but also a recognized and admired art form. Please do not hinder personal expression in older children about the formation of cursive letters as long as that expression doesn’t hamper clarity.
Kate Gladstone has written on her web site many eye-opening facts. One is that there is substantial proof that students with good handwriting average one letter grade higher on the same work than a student without good handwriting skills, even though the content is the same.