Our children won’t survive the world if we focus on ‘pen and paper’ over computers

Our story about the Richland School District providing Google Chromebooks this year to all its high school students struck a nerve with many readers.

Some wondered why paper and ink aren’t good enough anymore, while others defended the computers because they are necessary to get along in the world.

We side with the latter view – especially since Richland voters approved a technology levy last February for this very purpose.

No college professor will accept a handwritten essay and no work supervisor will want to see a handwritten report.

Computers are here to stay, and there’s no going back.

Richland’s goal to equip students with laptops is the same as many other school districts around the state. Kennewick voters approved a technology levy last spring as well, and Pasco already has a student-laptop program in place.

Regardless, there was still a fair amount of back-and-forth on the Tri-City Herald’s Facebook page on this topic, with some people lamenting that computers do too much for students — like checking for poor grammar and misspelled words — and that students won’t know how to function without a “computer doing every little thing,” as one reader wrote.

Another said that many kids today can’t “read or write cursive anymore. Or tell time on an actual clock” and another reader noted that kids won’t know what to do if they lose power or access to the Internet.

But others defended the school effort, pointing out that high school students are going to be expected to be “proficient with computers” by the time they enter the workforce, and they “shouldn’t be hindered because of your fear of change.”

There is still a place for cursive writing, but that place is growing smaller. Students should know how to write a legible signature, after all, and handwritten thank you cards — we hope — will always be a sign of good manners.

Out of nostalgia, we took a look in our archives and found an editorial written ten years ago lamenting the end of the handwritten note.

Here is a snippet of what we said Nov. 8, 2010:

“Dear cursive handwriting:

We’re sorry to learn you’re ailing and unlikely to recover. We’ve been hearing about your demise for years, of course, but the latest news hits close to home.

Last month, The Associated Press reported that on college campuses in Oregon you’re considered near extinction – another victim of the digital age.

The end may be inevitable but heartbreaking nonetheless.

The keyboard has its uses but lacks your charm … There is no end to the list of correspondence that’s enriched by your fluid curves and intrinsic humanity … You not only represent a direct connection between heart and hand and mind, but also a link to our past.”

Apparently we thought cursive writing was nearly dead 10 years ago, so it is notable it is still around. Technology has not wiped it away completely.

Those who worry that encouraging students to use computers will somehow erase cursive writing should find that reassuring.

To read our entire edit from the archive, search for: On the death of cursive writing by the Tri-City Herald. It still resonates today.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 4:55 PM.