A rapid study of how cursive faded from schools and what that means today.
Cursive’s decline predates digital keyboards, sparked by mid-20th-century debates about handwriting speed over legibility.
Some schools switched to print-only after typewriter-era teachers argued cursive wasted classroom time on decorative strokes.
In certain countries, cursive is kept as a cultural symbol rather than a functional skill, influencing policy but not daily use.
Modern AI and OCR tech reduce the practical need for cursive, making legibility a solved problem despite teaching cuts.
Cursive’s decline predates digital keyboards, sparked by mid-20th-century debates about handwriting speed over legibility.
Some schools switched to print-only after typewriter-era teachers argued cursive wasted classroom time on decorative strokes.
In certain countries, cursive is kept as a cultural symbol rather than a functional skill, influencing policy but not daily use.
Modern AI and OCR tech reduce the practical need for cursive, making legibility a solved problem despite teaching cuts.
