From Types of Mind: or Facsimiles of the Handwriting of Eminent Persons.

Bettmann Archive

The news is giving me whiplash. And I’m not talking about the mainstream political kind causing that permanent kink in my neck, as well those pains in other areas. I’m talking about education news. It seems like just yesterday we were edging out pens and pencils in the classroom in favor of digital media, or at best a somewhat skewed hybrid of both. Cursive handwriting’s staunch supporters seemed just a whisper in the background, with the tapping of computer keys and the opinions of experts who touted digital writing as the future drowning out the rest.

As a keynote speaker at a writing instrument symposium several years ago, I was shunned by a group of educators who thought my stance on the positive effects of cursive handwriting on the brain was out of touch, or at its worst, harmful. Back then there weren’t many well-designed studies to confirm either way, resulting in a he-said-she-said standoff between what became the Luddites and the modernists.

The ensuing years have been a mishmash of clashing ideas that cite everything from too little time in the classroom to study such soft skills as handwriting to experts who affirm the study-backed powers of the pen for information retention, creativity, and the overall acquisition of knowledge. So I was pleased to see the topic once again in the news, and, even better, it aligns with what I’ve long believed to be true, albeit with a few kinks.

It was around 2012-13 that cursive began to fade from classrooms completely, as digital tools began to take over classrooms and students‘ lives. The Common Core State Standards, adopted in 2010, removed the requirement for cursive. but added one for keyboarding.

Interestingly, more than half the U.S. states now have laws mandating, or strongly encouraging, cursive writing in public schools – up from only 14 a decade ago. Proponents believe cursive writing is an important skill with significant cognitive benefits, according to the National Education Association (NEA), a 3-million-member organization representing public school teachers, faculty, and education support professionals. But these new mandates add even more responsibilities to already-overworked teachers’ plates, say some, and represent yet another test for students to pass, according to neaToday.

Connecticut middle school teacher David Polochanin told neaToday, “In one way, just getting kids off screens may be reason enough to look into whether any additional time should be spent on cursive. But I think [its reemergence] also reflects a desire to help our students slow down, take their time, and take pride in their work.” It’s estimated that children and teenagers spend an astounding 4.5 to 7.5 hours on entertainment screens per day.

Amidst all its many other credits, cursive is also critical for reading historical documents and signing signatures, proponents say, and the National Archives agrees. It even calls the ability to read cursive a “superpower.” According to USA Today, America’s official record keeper is recruiting volunteers, known as Citizen Archivists, to read and transcribe historic documents written in cursive, a skill they agree is becoming increasingly rare. “The program offers simple online sign‑up, optional AI assistance, and non‑cursive tagging tasks to help make over 300 million digitized records searchable.”

So embrace your superpower, and pass it on for generations to come.