Penmanship: an outdated tradition

All AP tests have a free-response section that requires to be handwritten. For students who struggle with penmanship, this section can be a nightmare. A major advantage of living in a digital world is the ability to type. So we don’t we use that advantage to the fullest?

People have worked years and years perfecting their penmanship. Typing has created a simpler way out of a tedious ritual. Every letter is standardized, fonts can be changed within seconds and so much more, something that once took years to do. 

Although handwriting is still useful, at least for a while longer, cursive is definitely outdated. Nobody really need to spend so much time in learning cursive. Handwriting justs need to be legible and efficient not unnessarily beautiful and time consuming.

Instead of learning to write cursive at a young age, students should be required to take typing lessons. All that learning could be applied into bettering a student’s ability to type because that’s what the future will hold for them. 

If a student cannot type very well, this student will have difficulty living in a world where technology and typing is the dominant form of communication. 

Forcing students to handwrite is especially unfair because most students will pursue careers that don’t demand handwriting. For example, for a career in computer science, every bit of code is typed up, instead of printed by hand, on a sheet of paper.

Basic writing skills are all that people needs in high school and in their future lives. Additionally, adults generally don’t write anymore because it’s just more efficient to type.

Instead of punishing the student by deducting points based on bad handwriting, teachers should provide an alternative of typing to those students whose handwriting may be slightly illegible.

 For example, at the bottom of a Document Based Question Rubric there is still a box that grades students on their legibility of their handwriting. That should be done away with. Teachers should instead have students type up their answers if their handwriting is too messy.  

Another common argument made against the progression to typing is that mathematical symbols can be difficult to type. However, most college math classes allow their students to type with a program similar to Latex. Therefore, almost all assignments in college must be typed. 

Schools have made so much progress by installing many computers at school so students can type, but more computers are needed. All work in school or anywhere else should be done on the computer if possible. Why write when you can communicate just as well or even better on a keyboard?