Should penmanship count?

If you’re under the age of 30 – there’s a good chance your handwriting is really immature...

It’s no surprise, considering 46 states have now adopted Common Core Standards in school that don’t require the teaching of cursive. Of course most students ARE required to learn to type on keyboards, which won’t be helping the handwriting dilemma at all. So does penmanship count? Let’s ask the experts:

• Jan Olsen, founder of Handwriting Without Tears, says if you stop teaching handwriting in second grade, you’ll have a generation of people who write like second graders.

• Michael Sull, master penman and author of “American Cursive Handwriting,” says without cursive, we’re losing important communication skills and motor skill development.

• Steven Graham, professor of education at Vanderbilt University, says sloppy handwriting suggests your thoughts or ideas are not all that great.

Some experts aren’t quite as worried about the loss of cursive. Most workplaces are likely to be dominated by computers and technology anyway - and historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence can always be reprinted in a non-cursive font for future generations to enjoy.