FULLERTON, California (Reuters) - A generation of children who learned to write on screens is now going old school.
Starting this year, California grade school students are required to learn cursive handwriting, after the skill had fallen out of fashion in the computer age.
Assembly Bill 446, sponsored by former elementary school teacher Sharon Quirk-Silva and signed into law in October, requires handwriting instruction for the 2.6 million Californians in grades one to six, roughly ages 6 to 12, and cursive lessons for the “appropriate” grade levels - generally considered to be third grade and above.
Experts say learning cursive improves cognitive development, reading comprehension and fine motor skills, among other benefits. Some educators also find value in teaching children to read historic documents and family letters from generations past.
I’ve always struggled with it. Often people let it degrade into a line with tiny bumps, and it becomes illegible.
Personally I am Autistic and have ADHD, so the fine motor control is hard to manage. I can’t write cursive neatly, but if I slow right down I can “draw” cursive.
Growing up undiagnosed when I did, has developed a hardy set of calluses across the knuckles from teachers hitting them with a ruler for bad pen grip or messy writing.
Most of those fuckers are dead or in diapers now.
Damn, that’s a terrible experience, I am truly sorry you went through all that. Those teachers are the dregs, fuck them.