random poll

[rm]

Super busy. Am suddenly curious about this. Apparently most kids entering college in the US this year don't know how to write in cursive. I suspect this is less a sign of the apocalypse than it feels like to me.

So, tell me things (as usual, poll is un-scientific and reflects my biases and experiences (and 49-year-olds can choose which age category they like better!) -- if the boxes don't work, my apologies and comments super welcome.):

[Poll #1607173]

Comments

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering this and discussed it in a subcomment, thought I might bring it upthread since apparently this post is my procrastination for the day:

When you say "cursive" (OP and other Americans), do you just mean "joined-up writing" or are you referring to a specific style or technique? I ask because "handwriting" by definition, to me as a 28 year old Brit, is more or less by definition joined up, and the idea that you would write in any other way, or take the trouble to use a special word for joined up as opposed to printed letters written by hand, is very odd. I keep thinking I must be missing something in these conversations.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Handwriting to me as an American is letters you write, instead of letters you type -- they can be joined up or not. Cursive would be any sort of joined up writing or script (same meaning as cursive.

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

Okay, thank you! That makes sense. I think there's an opposition built into US education where "printing" is an optional category of handwriting that for us doesn't exist in theory -- but in practice, I expect probably there are plenty people who write so little by hand that they join letters irregularly or not at all. It does make sense to de-emphasize writing technique in education given how little actual writing anyone does any more...