Posted: Yesterday 10:29:41 AM EDT
Seriously...almost every week I get someone's chicken scratch that the mail guy, who probably can't even read cursive, threw in my mailbox. As a FYI for those who don't think anythings wrong with it, kids are even taught cursive anymore...so yeah.  
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| There is a frighteningly high percentage of the population that is semi-literate at best, so why take the chance of one of these people trying to read cursive. High schools are giving diplomas to completely illiterate people now, and its highly likely some of them will end up working for the USPS. |
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Originally Posted By Arkturus: I don't believe that. I don't see how it possible to even make it to high school without being able to read at all. Originally Posted By Arkturus: Originally Posted By LV1976: High schools are giving diplomas to completely illiterate people now Roughly one in four are functionally illiterate |
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Read how the source defines it. It doesn't mean can't read. In addition from said source: " The data, from the 2023 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), show that the average U.S. literacy score was not measurably different from the international average. The average U.S. scores in numeracy and adaptive problem solving were lower than the international averages. "When you look at the average skills in the U.S. population compared with our economic peers, we appear to be better in reading literacy. " |
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Originally Posted By Arkturus: I don't believe that. I don't see how it possible to even make it to high school without being able to read at all. Originally Posted By Arkturus: Originally Posted By LV1976: High schools are giving diplomas to completely illiterate people now Ever heard of No Child Left Behind or Every Student Succeeds? |
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Originally Posted By Arkturus: I don't believe that. I don't see how it possible to even make it to high school without being able to read at all. Originally Posted By Arkturus: I don't believe that. I don't see how it possible to even make it to high school without being able to read at all. iReady assessments are given in Baltimore City Schools to help determine at which grade level a student is performing in math and reading. The scores are not made public. If the media requests them, the district will redact most of the results. But Project Baltimore obtained the results for all of the students tested at Patterson High School. In reading, 628 Patterson High School students took the test. Out of those students, 484 of them, or 77%, tested at an elementary school reading level. That includes 71 high school students who were reading at a kindergarten level and 88 students reading at a first-grade level. Another 45 are reading at a second-grade level. Just 12 students tested at Patterson High School, were reading at grade level, which comes out to just 1.9%. Project Baltimore asked how a student who reads at an elementary school level could reach high school. “They're pushed through,” replied the teacher. “They're not ready for the workforce. They're not ready for further education.” When asked if it’s social promotion, the teacher replied, “Yes.” |
In real life these things don't happen much at all
It's too bad we all live the dream
It's too bad we all live the dream
| Other than signatures, about the only time I print is when addressing letters or 100% copying Morse code. If I'm just taking notes with the Morse, it's cursive. |
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Originally Posted By LV1976: Ever heard of No Child Left Behind or Every Student Succeeds? This! My step daughter needed to be held back in elementary school. She has a severe learning disability. They just passed her on. Now she's a sophomore and they can't figure out why she has a 0 in geometry.  She can't do basic arithmetic. If you asked her to break a 20 she couldn't do it.  Yes, she gets special help but it's not enough. |
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Originally Posted By Orion10182011: This! My step daughter needed to be held back in elementary school. She has a severe learning disability. They just passed her on. Now she's a sophomore and they can't figure out why she has a 0 in geometry. She can't do basic arithmetic. If you asked her to break a 20 she couldn't do it. Yes, she gets special help but it's not enough. Originally Posted By Orion10182011: Originally Posted By LV1976: Ever heard of No Child Left Behind or Every Student Succeeds? This! My step daughter needed to be held back in elementary school. She has a severe learning disability. They just passed her on. Now she's a sophomore and they can't figure out why she has a 0 in geometry. She can't do basic arithmetic. If you asked her to break a 20 she couldn't do it. Yes, she gets special help but it's not enough. I hear you. I see some young adults struggling with basic tasks like understanding written instructions or making change at a cash register. They're not stupid, they're not lazy, and I can see that they're trying to do a good job, but they just don't have the basic tools to do the jobs. |
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Originally Posted By Orion10182011: This! My step daughter needed to be held back in elementary school. She has a severe learning disability. They just passed her on. Now she's a sophomore and they can't figure out why she has a 0 in geometry. She can't do basic arithmetic. If you asked her to break a 20 she couldn't do it. Yes, she gets special help but it's not enough. Originally Posted By Orion10182011: Originally Posted By LV1976: Ever heard of No Child Left Behind or Every Student Succeeds? This! My step daughter needed to be held back in elementary school. She has a severe learning disability. They just passed her on. Now she's a sophomore and they can't figure out why she has a 0 in geometry. She can't do basic arithmetic. If you asked her to break a 20 she couldn't do it. Yes, she gets special help but it's not enough. Sad to say but she isn't far behind most public school students. I had a birthday recently, one of my grandkids asked me how old I was. After I answered I asked them to tell me what year I was born. None of them could figure it out and just started guessing, it's a sad trend. |
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Originally Posted By Arkturus: I don't believe that. I don't see how it possible to even make it to high school without being able to read at all. Originally Posted By Arkturus: Originally Posted By LV1976: High schools are giving diplomas to completely illiterate people now My county has an 87.5% graduation rate, but only a 5-15% literacy rate on standardized tests for the county high school (there’s only one government high school in the county).  Everyone with 2 pennies to rub together either pays for private school or sends their kids out of county. |
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Originally Posted By DarthGrind: Originally Posted By Arkturus: Originally Posted By LV1976: High schools are giving diplomas to completely illiterate people now Roughly one in four are functionally illiterate |
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Originally Posted By Whippet06: Cursive is stupid. Other than my signature, I haven't written anything in cursive in 30+ years. |
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Originally Posted By Orion10182011: Yes, they don't even teach cursive in school anymore. Unless you have immaculate hand writhing I'd say anything hand written is a risk with cursive being the worst. My daughter is learning cursive this year, she's in the 3rd grade. |
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Originally Posted By Never_A_Wick: I can read and write both. Pretty much never write in cursive though. I know a few people who do, didn’t ever realize it’s a potential issue. Writing the mailing address in cursive = "That's real retarded sir" when you consider that the typical postal employee looks like this  |
 Reading Is A Superpower (They're Making You Illiterate On Purpose) https://www.hilarylayne.com/p/no-you-dont-need-to-learn-cursive |
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Originally Posted By Bacon_Grease:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBNEI-G_ofMhttps://www.hilarylayne.com/p/no-you-dont-need-to-learn-cursive How to be better literat. Fixed it for you |
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Originally Posted By Never_A_Wick: I can read and write both. Pretty much never write in cursive though. I know a few people who do, didn't ever realize it's a potential issue. I greatly appreciate having been taught. I can't think of a single skill or bit of knowledge that I learned in grades K-8 that I would wish to remove from kids today. It's all worthwhile. |
"This is a free country, and I have the permits, background checks, licenses, and tax receipts to prove it." --Zippster (4/10/13)
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Cursive helps kids get smarter. New brain research shows that writing by hand helps children learn more and remember better. At the same time, schools are going more and more digital, and a European survey shows that Norwegian children spend the most time online of 19 countries in the EU. Your kids would benefit from writing in cursive. But it takes parental involvement. And who really wants to work with their children? It takes time annd effort. Schools, the internet, and their friends will take care of them. Right? |
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Originally Posted By Zap_Rowsdower: Writing the mailing address in cursive = "That's real retarded sir" when you consider that the typical postal employee looks like this https://www.bostonherald.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/ap/3c67db5fb34f4ee7a745b91f43b94228.jpg?w=1200 
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You mean someone wrote a letter? Like with their hands? I can't remember the last time I saw a hand written letter. I've seen those fake ones that companies send out in fake script. But I haven't seen a hand written address in years, maybe decades |
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Originally Posted By Whippet06: Cursive is stupid. Other than my signature, I haven't written anything in cursive in 30+ years. Yes- we're over 50 here. Haven't used it since the mid-80's....had computers even then. Cursive is both gay and retarded. Boomers use cursive. |
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Originally Posted By Lattimer: I'm now, sigh, middle aged so cursive was my life for most of my education. Day one of engineering school was the instruction to ditch cursive. Yup! When you can't read the class notes you took in cursive in Mechanics of Deformable Solids it's time to switch things up a bit.
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As far back as 2002, the post office had machines that could easily read cursive. The sorting is not done by a human, unless the PO has abandoned the machine readers
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Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out.
General education should not be mere job training, but training in how to be fully human.
General education should not be mere job training, but training in how to be fully human.
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I saw something today, that suggested they are going to require cursive in schools, because it stimulates a section of the brain that makes people more productive. IDK how true it is, but, I write as much as I can in cursive….on purpose. That’s another one I saw……thanks TontoGoldstein. Originally Posted By TontoGoldstein: Cursive helps kids get smarter. |
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I write my Aunt monthly. She critiques my cursive. She was an English teacher, back in the day, 1960’s -1970’s. Occasionally, I’ll accidentally, use short hand. She’ll catch it. She also taught shorthand. She will correct me every time. I’ll bet these young people don’t even know what short hand is. |
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Originally Posted By Annarchy: I write my Aunt monthly. She critiques my cursive. She was an English teacher, back in the day, 1960’s -1970’s. Occasionally, I’ll accidentally, use short hand. She’ll catch it. She also taught shorthand. She will correct me every time. I’ll bet these young people don’t even know what short hand is. I genuinely had no clue what that was, looked it up. I’m mid 30s and did learn cursive but haven’t used it since high school. Not sure if they still do it, I know they still have wood shop though thankfully. |
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Nobody can read my cursive, not even me. I write notes in cursive, misplace them for a week or two, then find them. When I find them, I can't read them unless I spend a few days on it. Sometimes I'll remember what it was and don't need the note. I wrote something down about a year ago, dealing with measurements and angles, with added instructions. I've been trying to decipher it for the last couple of months, and can't do it. I think it's about buying, cutting, and finishing the boards to repair a swing I have, and the angles are for the top edges of the seat area. But, i don't know. Now, that's terrible writing. I have to print, but my printing sucks now too, getting older and have terrible arthritis in my hands. I donate when I can to St. Jude's Children's Hospital. They occasionally send out stickers with your name and address so I use those when I can find them. I just got a new set yesterday in the mail. I haven't looked to see if they have my home address or the post office box I used until a few months ago. I just sat them on the counter. So, while I can't say for you, for me, it is just asking to be mis-delivered. I always just got the guy at the post office to print up a label for me. |
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I'll write the name in cursive, and print most of the address. Writing in cursive is more efficient, you don't have to pick the pen/pencil tip up off the page as many times for most letters, including when going from one letter to the next. It just flows, and works great for people that write a lot. Cursive is not stupid. Stupid is someone who can't read (clearly written) cursive or can't understand why it might be better/more appropriate/more efficient in some circumstances. |
| The mailing address is auto-read by a machine and a bar code is printed across the bottom of the envelope. |
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