Your handwriting stinks, but not because of computers

I've long figured the conventional wisdom was true: Handwriting today is dismal because computers and the typewritten word have made writing with pen and paper obsolete.

I certainly remember many long lessons as a child, ensuring that my printing and later my cursive text was completely "by the book." And yet my ability to write legibly has atrophied considerably. (I, however, have nothing on my wife, whose chicken scratch has to be translated by experts with advanced degrees in deciphering obscure languages.)

But it may not be the computer that's at fault here. According to one expert: Handwriting has fallen into disrepair because schools simply don't teach it now. Per Vanderbilt's Steve Graham, "Writing is just not part of the national agenda anymore." Perhaps my own handwriting inability is simply the result of educational neglect.

I know firsthand my kids spend a lot of time learning handwriting at school, but they're still young. In the Time story linked above it is explained by a major provider of handwriting instruction manuals that few schools purchase books beyond the third grade level. My daughter starts second grade in the fall, so I guess I have two more years until we're stuck with whatever her scribbles end up looking like at that point.

Old-timers may also be surprised to find that most cursive handwriting manuals evolved into a more simplified script in 1990. The old "Zanerian" alphabet lost many of its flourishes -- remember those uppercase Qs and Zs? -- as kids struggled to write them and readers struggled harder to make sense of what was being written. As the focus in public education turned toward improving test scores on math and reading skills, attention to handwriting, which isn't measured by any standardized test, has waned even further.

But the funny part is that no one really seems to care. Those who can't write longhand type instead, and -- as Time points out -- with the exception of illegible medical prescriptions killing thousands of people every year -- handwriting has almost no relationship to how well you do at work. You're simply better off pouring your energy into typing faster or learning how to use a 10-key than on writing more legibly by hand.

So scribble away! If you're older than eight years of age, no one is going to mind that your penmanship is pathetic. Neatness no longer appears to count.

The important takeaway, though, is clear: If you want to be understood, type it instead.