Reading and writing in cursive is important, but should your kids have to learn it? | Opinion
Because you are reading this in typeface (or maybe even listening to this in an audio format), cursive probably isn’t even on your radar.
Who writes in cursive anymore? Maybe to sign checks or documents, but programs such as Docusign have even made this practice, shall we say, obsolete.
That’s not stopping Missouri legislators — five of them — from introducing bills to require cursive to be taught in public schools.
In a bipartisan show of appreciation for the twists and curls of cursive writing, state Sen. Curtis Trent and state Reps. Renee Reuter, Peggy McGaugh, Stephanie Boykin and Marlene Terry all have bills this session. Trent, Reuter and McGaugh are Republicans. Boykin and Terry are Democrats.
The bills are similar to one another — requiring instruction that would teach children to write in cursive and to be able to read and understand cursive documents — and also are similar to previously introduced bills.
Former state Rep. Gretchen Bangert, a Democrat, pushed for such a bill for seven years.
While I see its incredible value, I’m still debating whether Missouri needs to require cursive instruction in public schools. Is this skill worth spending taxpayer money on? Fiscal notes that accompany two of the bills report no impact on the general revenue fund or state funds.
If so, that probably means something else needs to go. What would that be? Arts, perhaps? I certainly hope not because I’ve written about how important that is to children’s well-being.
I think cursive is an important skill, but should it be mandatory in today’s technological age?
Another factor against it is the extra level of rigor for left-handed students. I’m a lefty and I can write in cursive style, but it came with a lot of pressure. Training the left hand to contort and make the flourishes in cursive left me with headaches (and a D in penmanship in second grade).
I eventually learned to write cursive with a straight left hand, not the curved cramped claw that some lefties develop.
Based on my ability to write in cursive, I may be older than some of you. And some of you might not even know what cursive is or how it’s different from the art form calligraphy. (I have never been able to achieve that skill.)
But the one aspect of these bills that I do approve of is the ability to be able to read and understand cursive documents. You might not be able to write it, but you should be able to read it.
The Smithsonian thinks so, too. It is looking for volunteers to read historic documents, written in cursive, to publish online in a searchable and discoverable format. It’s for future readers, and I think it’s an important mission. I signed up.
From the Smithsonian: “Every year, the National Archives digitizes tens of millions of records. The agency uses artificial intelligence and a technology known as optical character recognition to extract text from historical documents. But these methods don’t always work, and they aren’t always accurate.”
We’re talking about Revolutionary War documents, presidential letters and even records pertaining to the forced evacuation and relocation of Japanese-Americans ancestry during World War II. There’s slave narratives and other documents of history that we simply can’t lose to a technology that doesn’t understand it.
I would hate to lose our history, and the adage pounds in my head about failing to learn from our past. It’s attributed to several great men, but Winston Churchill’s version is probably the most remembered:
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I wonder if we are in the process of repeating it now.
In discussing this with friends and colleagues, one said, “Missouri needs to teach students to read and write. Period.”
Well said, but if there is a way to build an understanding of cursive into the system without busting the budget or losing another important skill, I’d be up for that.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 5:06 AM.
