You know the feeling when you are forced to do something, only to later find out that it is
useless? It is a common feeling, and one thing that causes it is cursive and letter writing. Schools across
the USA are debating whether or not they should continue to teach cursive writing. 41 states have made
the intelligent decision to remove cursive writing from the curriculum. Although cursive and letter
writing convey more emotion, they do not have value in today’s schools because it takes time away
from more important subjects, schools should focus on computer programming rather than cursive, and
it is outdated.
First, a reason that cursive does not have value in today’s schools is because it takes time away
from more important subjects. Students should not be wasting their time learning cursive writing when
they can be learning tools to help them succeed in life. According to the article “Is It Time For Cursive To
Die” by Lauren Tarshis “Schools are under enormous pressure to help students develop the math and
reading skills they need to succeed on tests and in college”(20). There already is too much pressure on
schools to teach kids vital subjects. However, having to teach cursive writing detracts from the goal of
teaching students these skills because it wastes time. If cursive wasn’t taught, there would be more time
for the vital subjects.
Furthermore, another reason that cursive should not be taught in today’s schools is because
schools should focus on computer programming rather than cursive. The time used to teach cursive
could be used to learn this skill, which is much more modern and useful. According to the article,
“Perhaps the time once devoted to cursive should be spent learning to ‘read’ and ‘write’ computer
languages”(Tarshis 20). Reading and writing cursive will not help you in the real world. However,
computer programming is a skill that can allow people to pursue a very successful career. For example,
Mark Zuckerberg was a computer programmer, and he created Facebook, so now he is a billionaire. The
time spent learning a skill that will get you nowhere should be replaced with a skill that can make you a
billionaire.
Although cursive writing and letters show more emotion than texts and emails, cursive writing
does not have value in today’s schools because it is outdated. While knowing how to write
cursive conveys more emotion that typing, typing is a modern form of communication that is
used in today’s society. According to the article “Why I keep my letters” by Nina Sankovitch,”But
these 10-character messages aren’t enough to salve how much I miss him” (21). Although this
may be true in some cases, people don’t have time in today’s busy world to write letters. 10
character messages get the point across in a time efficient manner for today’s society. Though
one can convey more emotion through a letter, it takes up too much time in today’s society.
In conclusion, although one can show more emotion through cursive and letter writing,
it is not a valued skill for today’s schools to teach because it hogs up time away from vital
subjects, computer programming is a better alternative, and it doesn’t have a place in today’s
society. Schools should make the intelligent choice and stop wasting their time teaching cursive
writing. Would you want to be sitting down, learning a completely useless way to write? Of
course not, so this generation should be the generation to stop learning cursive.