I was recently shocked to hear that some schools in the United States are considering doing away with the art of hand writing. I mean by this script writing, where letters are connected together, sometimes misnamed as "hand writing". Imagine, an important part of education just swept away because, as these schools observed, none of the children use script writing anymore, most print what they mean to say. This is an ignorant move. It is already established that our children today would be lost without a computer and a keyboard, or a text ready phone. Some educators claim that children would rather text, "omg" and "lol" than write out a report. These same educators have also suggested that these shortcuts be taught as a communication advantage. While that is something to consider, it should not replace the scripted word.
Since when have children become the rulers? Should we abandon thousands of years of culture and development because young people are too lazy to learn and use a time honored and expanded tool of communication?
Let's talk a moment about all those persons in the past and in some instances our present time that were not permitted or able to learn to write. For many years and in some cultures it was illegal to teach certain persons to learn to read and write. This is a clear use of ignorance for control. Do we want our children thus controlled that they would not know what a script "k" looks like?
Are we to place our children in danger of ignorance because we wish to cater to their lazy minds?
As per the use of "lol" and "omg" and other shortcuts through the amazingly expansive English language, I don't mind the use of this shorthand in their proper place. It should remain on the internet or on a text phone, not in books, reports or every day language.
Any language is rich in it's descriptive value, from Hindi to French; from Italian to Spanish. Diverse and thought provoking images cannot be conveyed with "omg". Letting young folks chose their own form of communication lessens their knowledge and narrows their abilities and visions.
Let's keep script writing a valued and valuable point for all to learn in our educational institutions.
