Changes in Young Worlds

[Shadow Wolf]

I remember being on a 'Christmas train' ride with my middle son; he was about 4/5ish. There was a woman in the seat in front of us with her two kids. She took a selfie with the two kids, and then spent the rest of the ride editing it, posting it on social media, and responding to comments. The kids seemed engaged, at least.

That to me is unfathomable, incomprehendable and sad she wasn't present in the world with her family.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It's not beauty that recommends cursive, but it's speed. It's utilitarian, not calligraphic.

How does one do cursive hastily and have it be readable to anyone?

 

[Windwalker]

How does one do cursive hastily and have it be readable to anyone?

If someone writes at a normal speed, cursive will be faster than printing simply because of not having to lift and reposition the pen for each and every stroke. It's a matter of efficiency. As a result, at the same rate of motions between print and cursive, cursive will be completed faster because it. It's less jerky movements. Plus, it will be less tiring as well.

That said, I am astonished right now when I try to write anything, print or cursive, as I no longer have very much in the past ten years or so because of the reliance on tech over paper. You don't use it, you lose it. The muscles for handwriting are all weak now. Like not playing the piano for a decade, and then being asked to play something. The old fingers aren't in shape anymore.

 

[sayak83]

I recently had a school staff lament to me that the first graders she worked with no longer use pen and paper; rather, its all on their chrome books. And too much, she felt, at that. "5 page book reports! For seven year olds! They should be out getting their hands dirty, not staring at screens!"

At yearly doctor's visits, you're often asked about screen time, and how much your kids are using. This was never asked when I was growing up, but the screens were limited then. Its not uncommon now to see a toddler with a tablet. My own little guy watches his cartoons on a laptop; we haven't even got a TV.

I hear the generation above me complain that the kids aren't learning cursive anymore. I remember learning it, but hated it, and find it almost obsolete in my world, save for an old letter or two a person might want to read. I could see keeping it around as an elective, but not required learning.

What are some changes in how the young(I'm talking pre-teen) learn and process now as opposed to your day as a child? What do you think is better? What is worse?

Recent tablets come with pens and responsive screens. So we can go cursive and paper free at the same time. I recently got one and using it for my meeting note taking. It's very convenient. Maybe, along with typing text, that is where cursive writing will go.

 

[Valjean]

How does one do cursive hastily and have it be readable to anyone?

Mine was always legible. If it weren't legible it would never have caught on.
Look at pre-computer letters, medical notes, &c. -- all cursive. There's a reason for that.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Mine was always legible. If it weren't legible it would never have caught on.
Look at pre-computer letters, medical notes, &c. -- all cursive. There's a reason for that.

You remember the issues of pharmacists not being abke to read a doctors handwriting and giving the wrong prescription?

 

[Mock Turtle]

I remember being on a 'Christmas train' ride with my middle son; he was about 4/5ish. There was a woman in the seat in front of us with her two kids. She took a selfie with the two kids, and then spent the rest of the ride editing it, posting it on social media, and responding to comments. The kids seemed engaged, at least.

These are what we had - mostly on train or coach journeys - given that neither of my parents could drive or ever had a car:

I-Spy (Michelin) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Twilight Hue]

Noone has had an issue with me doing regular print initials over these past couple months as my shoulder has worsened. It's that or use my left hand, and the writting quality for that hand still looks like my right hand did in the second grade learning cursive.
And my signature isn't regular cursive anyways. It hasn't been since highschool, where I based my signature on a font I liked with sime cursive to add some flair to my signature when signing art projects. But it ended up becoming my regular signature.

I doubt that would work for a drivers license.

 

[JustGeorge]

These are what we had - mostly on train or coach journeys - given that neither of my parents could drive or ever had a car:

I-Spy (Michelin) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I remember playing the letter game on long rides with my mom. The contest was to see who could find the whole alphabet(in order) first.

 

[mangalavara]

I recently had a school staff lament to me that the first graders she worked with no longer use pen and paper; rather, its all on their chrome books. And too much, she felt, at that. "5 page book reports! For seven year olds! They should be out getting their hands dirty, not staring at screens!"

Like that school staff member, I feel that students should use pencil and paper. Being able to write words and numerals is a human talent that everybody should be able to do in a literate society. Also, when we write, we make our composition recognizable as our own. Additionally, I agree that such young students should not have to write five page book reports or essays, even with pencil and paper. They need time to develop social skills, and enjoy their childhood.

What are some changes in how the young(I'm talking pre-teen) learn and process now as opposed to your day as a child? What do you think is better? What is worse?

When I subbed at elementary schools in the US, I observed that students used Chromebooks and sometimes pencil and paper. Most of the time, they used Chromebooks. When I was their age, we used pencil and paper the vast majority of the time. It was seldom that we used computers. I think the older way is better because we look at screens far less. At the English academies where I teach in Korea, we practice the traditional way. I love it.

Cursive is fast and convenient. It's an efficient way of writing.

Exactly!

Do you think there's always going to be an internet, or even electricity?

I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks about this. The internet could disappear—for a long time or even forever—at any time. Just as people tend to ignore their mortality, they pretend that the internet will always be here.

I can't imagine just how dumb it looks for a person to just print their name instead of signing it on a legally binding document.

There is something competent looking about a person who can sign their name on a document. Where I work, the other teachers and I have to sign our names on a document every week to acknowledge that we have read some expectations for us. Out of eight persons in all, I am the only one who actually signs it. The others just print their names. Other than that, government documents here have a place for printing one’s name and a place for signing one’s name.

Lastly, many of my students wish they could write in cursive English. Whenever I sign their homework for them, they look at it and are impressed. I have one student who can actually sign her English name. I admire that about her.

 

[Koldo]

Setting aside the question of cursive and handwriting, I'd say "screen time" is more a concern in general overall, inside or outside the classroom. I may sound like some old fart, but I don't think so. It applies to myself as much as anyone, let alone kids growing up with constant access to the tech.

I make a point to be more observant in life, for instance as I'm out walking around, or just sitting on a bench in a park, etc. It has to do with being a part of the world, feeling connected with it. Being present in the moment. And I look around and see people walking by the beautiful lake with their faces down towards the screens on the phone, headphones on, and totally not present in the moment whatsoever.

This sort of thing I fully believe creates anxiety for us. It's bad enough when we are lost inside our heads, inside of "thought world" as I call it, and not in the real world surrounding us, but then add we're walking with our heads down facing a lit screen, reading texts, and just walking around periferrially just enough to maybe avoid running into other screen-walkers, I'll now term them. This is a **** way to live.

So as a child growing up, developmentally, I cannot image this is psychologically healthy for them. I can't believe it is socially healthy either. And if these are out of whack, then so too will their bodies eventually be effected in negative health down the road. I believe in a whole body mind system balance. Too much tech can easily put things out of whack.

Granted it, we have to live with tech. It is part of our world now, I'm even on a screen typing right now, but it has to be countereffected by other, non-screen related activities - especially outdoors! I'd say they need to take off the blinders and be present in the moment. Be part of themselves as part of the world around them.

The biggest problem is that the world around (as in our daily lives) is fairly uninteresting compared to what the software offers.

 

[VoidCat]

Cursive is also essential for legal signatures and the like.

I can't imagine just how dumb it looks for a person to just print their name instead of signing it on a legally binding document.

Why would it look dumb?

I have dysgraphia a disability in writing. I often print my name. Print typically looks neater then cursive. Nobody really cares if it's in print or cursive as long as the document is signed

 

[Valjean]

You remember the issues of pharmacists not being abke to read a doctors handwriting and giving the wrong prescription?

Sure, and prescriptions today follow a specific format, to avoid this, but actual Dr's and Nurses' notes were always written in cursive. It just took too long to write long narratives out in block letters.

 

[Windwalker]

The biggest problem is that the world around (as in our daily lives) is fairly uninteresting compared to what the software offers.

The real problem is believing it is. You are describing escapism.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I doubt that would work for a drivers license.

Considering hamdwriting analysis is a pseudoscience they'd probably have to take it as an acccomadation at this point.

 

[Koldo]

The real problem is believing it is. You are describing escapism.

But it is. It is not just a matter of believing in it. It is of no surprise that people are so immersed into their phones and computers.

 

[Stevicus]

How does one do cursive hastily and have it be readable to anyone?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Why would it look dumb?

I have dysgraphia a disability in writing. I often print my name. Print typically looks neater then cursive. Nobody really cares if it's in print or cursive as long as the document is signed

Well a disability is an exception, it shouldn't be the norm.

 

[Quagmire]

What is it?

That's one of those things that thrift stores use to hold down piles of magazines.

 

[Windwalker]

But it is. It is not just a matter of believing in it. It is of no surprise that people are so immersed into their phones and computers.

I think that's my point. It's like alcoholism because being drunk appears a better more enjoyable reality than living one's sober life the real world. Escapism. But the downside of that is, is that you forget how to live, and so the bottle, or the Internet is the only place you know to go to find yourself.

But is that healthy? Is that how we were evolved by nature to live, disconnected from the world into a purely artificial reality?