It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Kids no longer learn cursive

page: 2
21
<< 1    3  4  5 >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:15 PM
link   
a reply to: schuyler


I was at Disneyland a few years ago and mickey Mouse signed "his" autograph. I took one look at it and blurted out, "Mickey Mouse is a woman!"


The characters at Disneyland/World/etc are required to learn a specific signature for that character. That way, no matter who is playing the character, you always get the same signature.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:15 PM
link   

originally posted by: DanDanDat
Same can be true for any language; for example I am cut off from the vast trove of knowledge that was written in the other 6,498 languages that I don't speak. Knowing how to read cursive doesn't save me from this fact.


6,498, huh? And how many of those languages actually have an alphabet? And how many of them have a library of literature? And how many of them have made a significant contribution to literature and the arts? Well, the ones that don't have an alphabet have made zero contributions, and that means their culture is almost completely lost, consisting mainly of a few artifacts stuck in the back rooms of museums. Only anthropologists care about that sort of thing.

It used to be that you were considered uneducated unless you knew Latin and Greek, plus a host of other languages, English and French among them. Today people, at least in the USA, are lucky to know one, and that imperfectly. The reason for that is because English dominates, of course. But here you are bragging that you are illiterate in a form of communication that was pervasive for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Moreover, people often seem to be proud of their inability to use correct grammar. If someone points out that there is a difference in meaning between "their," "there," and "they're" they are called Grammar Nazis or worse.

Clearly, there has been a massive downhill slide in educational attainment. That some people consider their own ignorance a badge of excellence shows that their contributions will be negligible.

You can be proud of that, or ashamed.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:17 PM
link   

originally posted by: schuyler
People who are illiterate in cursive have been cut off from a vast trove of knowledge that is now hidden from them. Everything that is not typeset is now a foreign language to them. This does have implications. As a real-world example, my daughter passed away in September. She wrote her will in longhand. The kids can't read it.


Oh bulls# already. I can't read Greek, but the knowledge of the Ancient Greeks is widely available to me and thus I am not cut off from it. Hell, I have a copy of the Odyssey, and the Timaeus and Critias sitting in my living room. In English, not Greek. Translations, voila, what a notion.
Nobody is cut off from knowledge if they cannot read ONE script style out of the plethora available. The problem with American writing is that due to personal variations, we don't have a standardized, clear script to use, even people write their lowercase print A's differently. I'm one of the many that dumped cursive like a hot rock when I mashed it together with print for a hybrid script. Almost everyone defaults to this hybrid style, it's very common.

What's not common anymore is the writing styles of say, grandma and grandpa. If it's not printed, I can't read a damn thing my grandmother wrote. And I WAS taught cursive, and expected to write using it daily.
That does not mean I can read a needlessly complex script like my grandmother concocted, which was certainly elegant and delicate in it's own right, but f#g impossible to read. I have no idea what script it was, but it wasn't one the ones a search engine dredges up for the 30's and 40's, and I've yet to actually find a name for it. Thus, it's probably hybridized of her own handiwork. Go figure, there's even so much personal variation in cursive that it can be damn near impossible to read anyway even if you were taught it!
edit on 1/7/2020 by Nyiah because: (no reason given)

edit on 1/7/2020 by Nyiah because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:19 PM
link   

originally posted by: crayzeed
Why don't you go on about lost knowledge of Greek, Coptic or even Latin.

The difference is that ignorance of other languages only cuts you off from other cultures. Not being able to read the unprinted words of your own culture cuts you off from a large part of your own culture, even down to your grandfather's letters and diaries.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:21 PM
link   
a reply to: schuyler



On a serious note, kid won't need to know cursive, or another language soon.
Pretty soon there will be apps that translate almost everything, almost perfectly. Maybe even typing will become obsolete as an app will just read our thoughts....



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:24 PM
link   

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Maybe even typing will become obsolete as an app will just read our thoughts....


Fabulous. Mine: 'Murder. Porn. Murder. Murder. Booze. Porn.'



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:25 PM
link   

originally posted by: fernalley
Don't we still need signatures for documents ect.?


A signature scribble is a signature scribble. Come up with a very quickly jolted wiggly line that's all your own. If I were to try to sign my name in traditional cursive, it'd look like a 3 year old was trying to do it for me. If I stick to my chicken scratch scribble signature, which vaguely resembles writing, or a doctor's note, then we're golden.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:32 PM
link   
I read and write in cursive. I usually just use it to write checks now. I was surprised when they stopped teaching it in schools too



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:35 PM
link   
a reply to: fernalley
NO, in some cases an X is sufficient.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:39 PM
link   
a reply to: schuyler

We're at a point where teaching math will become obsolete because calculators.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:43 PM
link   

originally posted by: proximo
a reply to: schuyler

You know what is next - soon they won't be asked to write at all, everything will be typed.



This I think would be much more of a problem than the dieing out of cursive.

Physicaly writing; whether it be cursive, block letters, or hyroglifics is a mechanical talent (for lack of a better word) that is more than just knowing a form of writing of a language. The brain uses different parts to write, and in turn we remember and learn in part through writing. For example if I need to learn or remember something I always write it down (along with other techniques); the muscle memory that is created by writing it down is just one more way to store and learn the information.

I'm dyslexic, was severely in my younger years, and so you can imagine physically writing isn't something I like to do often; typing has been a primary coping mechanism for my dyslexia. Unfortunately in my later years with less an less physical writing I find I now have trouble doing it. And that becomes a problem when I have no choice but to physically write something; leaving a note for someone for example.
edit on 7-1-2020 by DanDanDat because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:45 PM
link   

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: schuyler

We're at a point where teaching math will become obsolete because calculators.



"They got pictures of food on the cash register..."




posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 01:49 PM
link   

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: DanDanDat
Same can be true for any language; for example I am cut off from the vast trove of knowledge that was written in the other 6,498 languages that I don't speak. Knowing how to read cursive doesn't save me from this fact.


6,498, huh? And how many of those languages actually have an alphabet? And how many of them have a library of literature? And how many of them have made a significant contribution to literature and the arts? Well, the ones that don't have an alphabet have made zero contributions, and that means their culture is almost completely lost, consisting mainly of a few artifacts stuck in the back rooms of museums. Only anthropologists care about that sort of thing.

It used to be that you were considered uneducated unless you knew Latin and Greek, plus a host of other languages, English and French among them. Today people, at least in the USA, are lucky to know one, and that imperfectly. The reason for that is because English dominates, of course. But here you are bragging that you are illiterate in a form of communication that was pervasive for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Moreover, people often seem to be proud of their inability to use correct grammar. If someone points out that there is a difference in meaning between "their," "there," and "they're" they are called Grammar Nazis or worse.

Clearly, there has been a massive downhill slide in educational attainment. That some people consider their own ignorance a badge of excellence shows that their contributions will be negligible.

You can be proud of that, or ashamed.


A good portion of the languages I do not know have significant contribution to literature, the arts as well as science. Some that don't have an alphabet like we think of it in the western world. Some that have been long dead. So I really don't understand your point; you are overestimating the significance of cursive.

As for me bragging about being ignorant in cursive; It might be you who is ignorant in English as I never said I don't know cursive, quite the opposite.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:01 PM
link   
I'm trying to teach my daughter to write cursive. Major headache, but worth it.

I'm sorry to hear about your Daughter, thank you for sharing that and props for bringing this info to light.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:02 PM
link   
It's true, at least for my two children. We taught them cursive at home.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:06 PM
link   

originally posted by: fernalley
Don't we still need signatures for documents ect.?


Yup.

Signatures are unique, witnessed when necessary but so is a 'X' if one can not scribe.

Cursive writing is a learning process, just as sentence dictation once upon a time.

Our education institutions no longer educate, simply process by the least common denominators, hence everyone gets a participation reward.

This is similar to the common premise, "I'll never use Algebra". Which is learning and learning logical approaches toward variable problem solving in life, not just 'math'.

Perhaps, let's completely stop teaching via exercise, no more physical education either; adhere to no critical thinking so the individual student becomes an unstudent.

mg



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:09 PM
link   
a reply to: schuyler

This has been in the works for years. The United States Constitution is of course written in cursive.

Another couple generations...

-Driver



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:10 PM
link   
a reply to: schuyler

In my children's school they are only allowed to write in cursive, that is all they are taught. Apart from my signature I never write in cursive and have very neat writing.

I read not too long ago how a top academic has said he thinks the days of schools are numbered as everything they teach at school can be found in much more detail on the internet. I hope hes right as most schools are turning into indoctrination centres for the young anyway.

Also as someone else mentioned, most things will be typed on our vast array of gadgets anyway so imo it's not that important that they learn cursive anymore.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:15 PM
link   
a reply to: fernalley

Digital signatures are a thing that's becoming more common. I just purchased land and am having a house built, 90% of my signatures were digital. The rest were what passes for my signature. I can read it, but you won't catch me writing it. It's the same with writing in general, I can type over 150 wpm, there's no way I could do that trying to hand write everything. Makes for more efficient note taking.



posted on Jan, 7 2020 @ 02:23 PM
link   
They decided that kids need to read spanish or french instead of cursive. So, they can understand an immigrant but not the note their relatives write to them.




top topics



 
21
<< 1    3  4  5 >>

log in

join