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by trey-jones
1523 days ago
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Covid 19 is going to have introduced a generation with the worst handwriting we've seen so far. By worst I mean both incorrect and illegible, and I'm basing this observations of my daughters who were in 1st and 4th grade during the first lockdown. Admittedly, they already had what I would call "poor" handwriting. I have no problem with the idea that legible is the primary criterium for handwriting. Correctness as I and my parents and grandparents learned is really just a matter of self-respect, I think. Correctness was already on the way out by the time I came along anyway. There was a uniformity to my mother's and grandmothers' handwritings that was not present among my peers and me in school. The only experience that I have that says someone must continue to learn cursive is that there are lots of historically important (or at least interesting) documents that are difficult to read even for me, and my kids would have a harder time still. Reading is not the same as writing of course, so merely practice reading these types of things is probably enough. I guess it's similar to Fraktur, which is difficult to read if you've never seen it, but not that bad with just a little practice. |
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Fucking weird angle on that imo. It's a skill with broad application but low impact for most people. The actual techniques for good handwriting aren't taught in school anymore, so people will have to decide to value it, seek it out, and practice it themselves. You might think they should, but if they disagree it doesn't indicate that they lack self-respect.
An almost infinite number of skills fit into this honestly. Kitchen knife work, drawing, whistle or sing a tune, phonetic alphabet, advanced mental arithmetic, basic carpentry, sewing, plant care, orienteering, bread baking, small engine repair, knot tying, etc etc etc etc.
Anyone can learn a bunch of these to varying degrees and they'll be frequently valuable through life, and potentially contribute significantly to identity and yes self respect. Which specific ones someone ends up with is pretty much meaningless though. I mean this kindly but there's nothing special about penmanship just because you value it.