The phrase “You
need to sign here” may cause anxiety because it means monthly payments or a
commitment of some sort, but for teens today it creates anxiety because it asks
them to complete a simple task that they are not prepared to do. Yes, you heard
me right. The majority of high school students do not know how to sign their
name because they cannot write in cursive.
As with all
things in education, the only thing that remains the same is change. Somewhere,
about ten to fifteen years ago most school systems decided that the time spent
teaching second or third graders how to write (and read) in cursive could be
better spent learning other things, especially test preparation. I’m sure they
thought not much would be lost by losing cursive. After all, these students
will be typing on a keyboard anyway. And as far as reading historic documents,
such as the Declaration of Independence, well, all can be accessed in
type-written form online.
I don’t believe
they gave much thought to the need for some sort of a signature. I don’t
suppose it would have ever occurred to me that they had never been taught
cursive until I started teaching high school six years ago. I have to admit
that in the beginning I would even write my feedback notes on their writing
assignments in cursive. None of those students ever mentioned that they could
not read my suggestions, not that many of them wanted to read how they might
improve their writing after it was graded. It was only when I was asked to have
students sign to receive materials that I realized that they could not sign
their names. Line after line would be filled with printed names.
I teach English
and our system is focusing on increasing literacy – a lofty and important goal.
Understanding and communication are necessities for success now more than ever.
Yesterday, I decided to address the cursive issue with my students, thinking
that a literate student should know how to sign their name. I gave them sheets,
writing each of their names in cursive at the top, then helped them practice. I
explained the importance of developing a signature that looked the same all of
the time as a way of identification. Yeah, I know some of you are thinking that
your doctor’s signature is nothing more than a hump here and there and a line
to the side. That may be so, but you can bet that Dr. So-and-so knows that you
do not print your signature. They may develop the hump and line method later,
but for this week we are learning that little bit of cursive writing.
There are studies
that show that learning cursive engages different parts of the brain than printing
does, and learning cursive improves childhood development. Many teachers have
commented on how much better the hand-eye coordination is with kids who have
learned cursive. I will add that I do not believe that our little one-day
lesson on how to sign your name will improve any of that for my high school
students. I’m just trying to do my part to make sure the next generation doesn’t
revert back to the days of “Make your mark here.”
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