I am a junior in high school. Last week a group of us took our PSAT’s. Upon the conclusion of the test, we were instructed to write a paragraph in cursive stating that we were not to share the answers with any other students. I was appalled to learn that out of the fifty plus students, only I and a select few other students knew how to write in cursive or even sign our names. For almost an hour students struggled and were asking each other for help. What is going on with our educational system? Has anyone ever heard of The Constitution of the United States? Has anyone ever noticed the beautifully hand scripted cursive written by Thomas Jefferson? Our founding fathers would be devastated at the lack of importance placed on present day penmanship. What about the elegant signatures written by the men who founded this country? Apparently putting your “John Hancock” on legal documents isn’t as important as it once used to be. Our educational system in America seems to be moving backwards. At this rate, the next generation will probably be “making their mark” on documents like uneducated men did hundreds of years ago. Cursive is a fine art form. All Americans should be required to write it. Some people believe that writing in cursive is unnecessary in this technological age. I disagree. Our nation’s most valuable documents were painstakingly hand written in exquisite cursive. Let’s make our founding fathers proud and continue to take pride in our education. And yes, even our penmanship.

Let’s keep moving forward in education,