Have you looked at any young person's handwriting lately? I can barely read my 9 year old grandson's printing, and he is to start learning cursive this year. I doubt that this will be legible either.

My great-uncle Lawrence had the most beautiful handwriting. It was all swirls and curls in beautifully, carefully written words. This has become a thing of the past. Too Bad!

This is becoming a world wide problem.
The authorities in Ireland have just introduced a series of measures to try and stop the decay.
Handwriting has been shown to develop ones thoughts and is an indicator of a person's presence of mind.

As a member of the "I can type like the wind but barely write" generation, I don't think this is that great a loss.

Preserve the artform of the written word, yes, but writing for most people is simply a skill that is waning, like so many other antiquated skills of the past.

I have 10 fingers. Keyboards let me use all of them to get my thoughts out nearly as fast as I can think them. That doesn't mean everything I type gets used, it simply gives me the option to write as quickly or as carefully as I choose.

In a pinch, I can still write if by hand if necessary, although I'll admit that my handwriting gets messier with each passing year.

They've flat out stopped teaching penmanship at many schools. Many kids are not even learning cursive anymore. So sad.

Typing like the wind is all well and good, but to sit and gather your thoughts as you write, that helps you to develop those thoughts to a greater degree.

Penmanship is vital for developing a better command of the language.

Taking notes by hand helps you retain information better, too.

This is so true! My 9 year old niece has a terrible handwriting and teachers don't seem to bother at all with this!! A shame!

It is a pet peeve of mine for people to have bad handwriting. Mine is very nice, and I get comments on it quite often. This clip just reinforces just how it has changed over the years.

Taking notes by hand helps you retain information better, too.

Very true, mousie. I found this to be the only way for me to study and remember things at school.

Let's not forget that not only is penmanship waning, but language skills too. My handwriting always starts out neat and cursive and all that fancy-schmancy stuff and then progressively turns to chicken scratch.