Cursive is a dying art. Technology is one of the main reasons why it is falling apart. With the technological dominance school systems have made, most students prefer typing rather than writing. With that being said, some people still would choose the “old fashion” way of writing.

For English teacher Amy Lovi, cursive has impacted her in a positive way, and she still uses it today.

“I went to Catholic school for thirteen years and handwriting was a big part of the curriculum. And though at times, I was frustrated at how much we had to do it. I’m really grateful for it now and I see it as a dying art,” Lovi said.

According to history.com, in an article about the history of penmanship, cursive was introduced by the fifth century A.D. And though it’s 1,500 years old, cursive has stuck with people throughout time.

The quickness the words can form are a positive aspect of writing in cursive. The cursive letters are connected, meaning you lift your pen less frequently then printing. This then cuts down the time spent on writing letters. Not to mention, cursive looks more professional.

“Because there are a lot of other skills right now that feel more immediate and more practical, but I personally plan to teach my child to write in cursive even if his school isn’t using it as part of the curriculum,” Lovi said.

Cursive can be a personal preference. Writing in cursive is not a must but it should be considered. The teachers also see the depleting use of handwriting.

“I think that the handwriting that I see among students is consistently worse and worse,” Lovi said.

Other teachers agree with her point. Jon Mihevc, from the English department, values cursive because of his personal experience with it.

“My late wife used to write a lot of notes, you know, to me or write things out and letter writing was really important to her and I think her father had sort of drilled good handwriting into her, and she enjoyed it,” Mihevc said.

While explaining the importance of good penmanship, he believes that it is a very important skill to be able to write from one person to another, and has a lot more significance than writing an email or text message.

Technology may interfere with the ability of reading and writing. It causes an abundance of opportunities for procrastination and affects memorization of school topics. It also can have a negative effect on mental health. The amount of time put into using an iPad for school related reasons is higher than ever. But, when using paper and pencil, students’ procrastination and memorization ideologies would possibly change.

Paper and pencil may not be preferred by everyone, but its importance should be reconsidered.

“Because I think you’re always gonna have to write and, you know, sometimes the iPad runs out of electricity. Battery drains,” Mihevc said.