Should we be teaching children to write?

Mamie

SueDonim

My other son, also a professor, writes his drafts longhand, so yes, he’d write a thesis. I don’t know why you are so insistent that there’s no place for ‘pretty marks on paper’.

If that is what people want to do then fine. Nobody is stopping them. Of course we all wrote essays and theses by hand back then. Collaborating, sharing and reviewing was a lengthy process.
As far as the skills needed for wider communication in today's workplace are concerned, I can't believe that handwriting is still high on the list. My family all have jobs that involve writing and communicating with colleagues nationally and internationally with deadlines to meet.
If all electronic communications fail I also can't see how anything would get from A to B.

If all electronic communications fail, communications would get from one person to another the same way as they did before the electronic communications existed.

That is, by letters, notes, packages delivered by servants, by secret Valentines slipped into a pocket when the recipient wasn't looking, by memos carried by hand round a factory and handed to the foreman, by messengers running from one firm's office to another, by couriers on horseback and later on bicycles, by the Pony Express, by local and national postal delivery organisations, by mail carried on board ships from one country to another.

For all of these there was a necessity to write legibly the information or sentiments that you wanted to express, and the person who received it had to be able to read it.. There is a story of an old lady before the days of the Penny Post and prepaid delivery. Once a month, the courier brought a letter addressed to her, which she would take, look at the cover without opening it, and return, saying she wasn't accepting it. The courier decided after a while that she couldn't afford to pay for the delivery, and so did her neighbours. They hatched a plot to pay for it so that she could read the letter. However, she wasn't grateful. She said "They don't say anything anyway. I can't read, and my son in the city doesn't write very well, so he just puts my name and address on. If a letter arrives and I recognise his writing, I know he is all right and I don't need to worry about him."

The transport of messages had to be paid for, of course. To begin with the recipient had to pay. Then you could subscribe to a service (Early 19th Century novels are full of people writing home daily from visits to richer relatives in letters sent via the postal services paid for by their hosts) In 1840 the first UK nationwide pre-paid postal service - you bought a penny stamp with the Queen's head on it, and stuck it as a receipt on your letter before putting in a red pillar box, and it was delivered without costing the recipient anything.

It isn't a penny now!!

I do both. I can type as I think, so often do - particularly if I want to keep a record of whatever it is I'm writing. A shopping list or something is just as likely to be done in the Notes app on my phone as on the back of an envelope - much depends on where I am and what is to hand when I remember I've run out of something.

I prefer to write creatively using a pencil, which is probably because of the neural pathways thing mentioned upthread. I rub things out when I reword bits, and I used to type it up when I was happy with the result. Now I have a digital notebook, which I absolutely love. I write on it with a special pencil (which feels exactly like writing on paper) and it synchs to my laptop, phone and iPad as soon as I am on wifi. I can alter, delete and add to documents from any of the devices, and organise documents into folders. It is absolutely the best of both worlds.

I do think it's important to be able to write (as opposed to type) though. Imagine being kidnapped and needing to put a HELP! note in the window, or being stranded on a desert island and being able to send a message in a bottle, or scribbling your number to hand to George Clooney when he asks for it. You could do none of those things if you couldn't write. And yes, of course it's important to be able to manage in the event of a lengthy power failure.

Doodledog

I do both. I can type as I think, so often do - particularly if I want to keep a record of whatever it is I'm writing. A shopping list or something is just as likely to be done in the Notes app on my phone as on the back of an envelope - much depends on where I am and what is to hand when I remember I've run out of something.

I prefer to write creatively using a pencil, which is probably because of the neural pathways thing mentioned upthread. I rub things out when I reword bits, and I used to type it up when I was happy with the result. Now I have a digital notebook, which I absolutely love. I write on it with a special pencil (which feels exactly like writing on paper) and it synchs to my laptop, phone and iPad as soon as I am on wifi. I can alter, delete and add to documents from any of the devices, and organise documents into folders. It is absolutely the best of both worlds.

I do think it's important to be able to write (as opposed to type) though. Imagine being kidnapped and needing to put a HELP! note in the window, or being stranded on a desert island and being able to send a message in a bottle, or scribbling your number to hand to George Clooney when he asks for it. You could do none of those things if you couldn't write. And yes, of course it's important to be able to manage in the event of a lengthy power failure.

As I said, I think the way handwriting is taught at Key Stage 1 is fine and I like the emphasis on extra support for children who struggle. I don't think you need go much further than Key Stage 1 for a HELP notice. If there is a lengthy blackout a shopping list with "candles" on it would be useful. 😊
I tend to use notes on my ipad a lot, then draft and edit on Pages.

Mollygo

Mamie
Would you write a 10,000 word thesis by hand?
Had to do two of them in my final year.

I did.
Then I paid someone to type it out on a typewriter.

butterandjam

Mollygo

Mamie
Would you write a 10,000 word thesis by hand?
Had to do two of them in my final year.

I did.
Then I paid someone to type it out on a typewriter.

I should probably have added the word now to the end of the original question. 😂

Mamie
^ I should probably have added the word now to the end of the original question.^😂

Yes, that’s different. Now I would probably make tough notes either on my computer or by hand, so much easier when you’re looking for info or references from books.
Then I’d dictate my thesis onto a computer, use spell check and a word counter, in addition to proof reading it.

Another few years down the line and I’d possibly feed in the title and ask AI to find me quotes, or maybe even produce the thesis.
At the time I did the same as butterandjam and paid for them to be typed up.
Only my Child Study remained hand written as I had to stick in photos and examples from the subject of my study, but that was only 5,000 words.