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Today’s students do very little handwriting.

Many tech-savvy teens say they use a keyboard far more often than a pencil – sending text messages, typing essays and taking notes on a laptop computer.

“Every assignment that we have to turn in, in the long run is required to be typed,” says 16-year-old Rebecca Edelston. “It looks neater.”

“I think I have horrible handwriting,” says 17-year-old Brandon Levitan. “It’s barely legible.”

There seems to be a growing opinion that handwriting is almost obsolete.

Some educators link the demise of penmanship to the rejection of repetitive drills as a teaching tool. Also, teachers are spending less time on handwriting and more time covering subjects like reading and math, which are measured by standardized tests.

In the meantime, however, there are finals, midterms and essays on college entrance exams – many of which still need to be written by hand.

The new SAT exam, for example, requires students to write an essay by hand in 25 minutes.

“And I found it hard to write an essay just using handwriting, because I’ve grown used to typing my essays on the computer,” says Brandon.

While teachers who grade the SAT are told not to mark off for sloppy penmanship, research shows that handwriting can send a message.

“It’s hard when you look at some types of handwriting, to not read certain things into it,” says Dana Huff, an English teacher at the Weber School – who also grades essays for the SAT. “You know the big, bubbly handwriting, for instance, can sometimes lead a teacher to think, ‘Oh, Airhead.’”

“If your handwriting is barely legible, it makes them think that you are not really an organized person,” says 17-year-old Adam Levinson, “that you are writing too fast, and you are not thinking about it.”

While computers have made handwriting less important than in the past, educators say students still take tests – and they need to be able to write legibly.

“I think in the case of handwriting, one of the best things that they could do is just drill,” says Huff.

For example, she says, students could practice writing timed essays by hand before they take the SAT.

“I wish we could type it, but I know that’s not possible, so I think its okay,” says Edelston, a junior at the Weber School. “I think as long as they are okay with us crossing stuff out and it being not as neat than I think, it’s okay.”

What We Need To Know

• Handwriting is something that can only improve with practice. Students can take develop their handwriting skills by taking notes in class or handwriting thank-you notes. (Dana Huff, English Teacher, The Weber School)




• Young children may pick-up handwriting skills more easily if parents have them participate in activities that require fine motor skills. Tying shoes or working with beads are good choices. (LDonline.org)




• Parents should have younger children set-aside time every day, to learn proper handwriting. You will know kids are doing well when the letters are all the same height, and the words are evenly spaced. (General Handwriting Teaching Tips, Donna Young.org)




• Parents should oversee practice so children don’t fill up a page with improper work. Praise anything done correctly, and have students erase and rewrite anything that is unacceptable. Ask your school for tips on how to teach children proper writing techniques. (Kathryn Stout, B.S., Ed.)




• Another danger of students typing all their assignments is they may become overly reliant on computer tools like Spell Check or Grammar Check. Parents should explain to kids that the computer is not always correct – and they need to learn good spelling and grammar rules for themselves. (Dana Huff, English Teacher, The Weber School)

Resources

• The College Board
• Utah State University, Handwriting Worksheets
• Dana Huff, English Teacher, The Weber School

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