I remember when I was in school back in the late sixties and early seventies and one of the first things that we learned upon entering grade school was how to write our name. The teachers back then began by teaching us how to print our names using block lettering similar to what is seen on the printed page. About the time that we entered third grade we were taught the art of penmanship or cursive writing.
Today our children are still taught how to print their name, but with computers being one of the main tools of communications with the use of social networking, texting and e-mails the need for cursive writing has somewhat vanished. So has the time that was used to teach this art form in the classroom. Most school curriculums have removed the time spent teaching cursive writing and has replaced that time with basic keyboarding so that our children will be proficient in computer basics.
When I went to school we didn’t see a keyboard until we entered high school where we were introduced to typing which was one of many needed skills that we would use on the job after graduation. The same went for computers which back then was considered a vocation. However in today’s world we find the computer in every home and a part of everyday life. We use it to stay in communications with friends and family through the use of e-mail and use it to keep track of everything in our lives from our check balances to the weekly shopping list. No longer due we keep hand written journals as we did in the past.
What’s really a shame is that with the advancement of technology by means of emails and texting we tend to lose that personal touch. One of many things that I remember was writing the thank you notes that I sent out for the gifts that I received upon graduation an then when I got married. I also remember all of the little notes that I would write my wife during our courtship and even after we were married.
But in todays technologically advanced would we send a quick email which can be individualized or sent as a group message or take the cell phone and send the quick text. One thing we forget is how quick these digital images can be lost or erased where when we place those words to paper that lasted forever.
One other thing we forget is that the hand written word is a means of identifying one another much like a finger print seeing no two people write in the same manner. The written manuscript in itself is an art form, much like a painting or music which are two more art forms that are dying as the computer age moves forward. We must realize that if we fail to teach our children this art form, we in turn will take away their power to negotiate. By this I am referring to the written text, if our children can only read the printed word and a contract is in a manuscript format then they will be at a loss and have to rely on someone who is knowledgeable to translate much like a foreign language and in turn if that contract is acceptable to them they won’t be able to give their signature as a designation of approval by have to rely on the individual that can. This is like having the politician say that the people he represents wants what is being degreed, but in turn it is what he wants for the people he represents similar to the rhetoric we find in politics today.
So as a society we need to bring back some of the basics that were once taught in our schools so that our children will have certain building blocks on which to survive when the great internet collapses and we as a people are faced to return to what was truly a simpler time.