OT: Should cursive still be taught in schools

[bac2therac]

when I was in school we had the Iowa Tests every 3 years and the CAT...California Achievement Tests I think every year...I am assuming these were phased out?

 

[LocalDC_rivals]

the other issue is that without cursive, a fine motor skill is lost--doing activities such as cursive helps the brain as well as whatever independent value it has
if it is dropped, something of a similar value needs to replace it--not texting or keyboard

 

[bac2therac]

how about chopping all the time that the schools are spending beating kids over the head silly barraging them with the constant refrain of NO BULLYING

 

[Abro1975]

Typing class in HS was the most useful course I think I took in HS. I wish I had taken short hand too. Both very valuable for college and beyond.

 

[mildone_rivals]

Im pretty tired of the media, so called movie stars, and dumbass twitter people **** on our country every day instead of celebrate it.

Yeah! We're the most free country in the world. Anyone who engages in introspection and self-critique should get out.

 

[T2Kplus10]

Even in my time, the public schools offered only a year or two of it. It has also faded from the parochial school curriculum with the decision in the 1960s to do the mass in the vernacular. But I wish I had taken Latin.

Latin, Spanish, and Mandarin are the three most important languages to offer.

 

[FanuSanu52]

how about chopping all the time that the schools are spending beating kids over the head silly barraging them with the constant refrain of NO BULLYING

Yeah, god forbid smart kids can focus on education without worrying about being terrorized by the future junior high dropouts that happen to be their peers.

Things were definitely better in your glory days ... beating up the frail kids that dared affront you by wearing glasses. Smart stuff.

 

[FanuSanu52]

this is a great point. How many times do we sit through movies and the villains turn out to be our own government and it seems like they afraid to make other countries are enemy...case in point all the Marvel movies seem to shy away from this although predictably enough the Germans were okay to be the enemy but when they did Iron Man 3, they didnt want to offend the Chinese so the Mandarin villain became a hoax which was just so stupid and pissed off the fans. We see it in every cop movie some stereotype of how crooked cops are.

Can you imagine if Muslim countries churned out anti Muslim films..if they are even allowed to make films.

Im pretty tired of the media, so called movie stars, and dumbass twitter people **** on our country every day instead of celebrate it.

Yeah, it's too bad movie villains are never foreign

 

[Retired711]

Latin, Spanish, and Mandarin are the three most important languages to offer.

hard to argue with Spanish and Mandarin.

 

[T2Kplus10]

hard to argue with Spanish and Mandarin.

And I'm thrilled to have found a local school that teaches all three.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Inglorious Bastards, Flags of Our Fathers, Saving Private Ryan

Great.. all WWII based and one was a joke. Even Flags of our Fathers was paired with a movie from the Japanese perspective "Letters from Iwo Jima". Moral relativism. Inglorious Bastards? really? Why didn't you just go with Dirty Dozen. So we haven't gone so far as to make movies making the Nazi's looking like misunderstood people who were forced to fight due to our own brand of capitalism run amok. Great. That's one for your side.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

this is a great point. How many times do we sit through movies and the villains turn out to be our own government and it seems like they afraid to make other countries are enemy...case in point all the Marvel movies seem to shy away from this although predictably enough the Germans were okay to be the enemy but when they did Iron Man 3, they didnt want to offend the Chinese so the Mandarin villain became a hoax which was just so stupid and pissed off the fans. We see it in every cop movie some stereotype of how crooked cops are.

Can you imagine if Muslim countries churned out anti Muslim films..if they are even allowed to make films.

Im pretty tired of the media, so called movie stars, and dumbass twitter people **** on our country every day instead of celebrate it.

Well said. And the worst thing is that it makes it so easy to guess the plot. "Oh, let me guess, the ultimate bad guy is an American Industrialist seeking endless war to feather his nest or to actually control the world." Time after time this is the end plot.

And that tells you what Hollywood is buying. I wonder how many scripts they have altered to fit this scheme. You mentioned Ironman 3. China is busy building up the military and especially the navy to support how it is pushing its way around in various island chains to grab water rights for drilling and god know how many air bases to project power but in no way can the be presented as the threat they may end up being.

China was ultimately behind the plot in the original Manchurian Candidate and they could easily have been recast as the bad guys in the 2004 version. And their state-controlled movie industry has no problem presenting Americans as greedy, chain-smoking mustachioed bad guys... so I have read.

The end result of all this "introspection" is that when something like 9-11 happens we get the media all asking "what did we do to deserve this" instead of "the evil fkkers who did this need to die now".

 

[Riceonthebanks]

Great.. all WWII based and one was a joke. Even Flags of our Fathers was paired with a movie from the Japanese perspective "Letters from Iwo Jima". Moral relativism. Inglorious Bastards? really? Why didn't you just go with Dirty Dozen. So we haven't gone so far as to make movies making the Nazi's looking like misunderstood people who were forced to fight due to our own brand of capitalism run amok. Great. That's one for your side.

If you want movies about American foreign policy directives that don't question the wisdom or morality of our national actions you have to start with actions that aren't questionable and nearly every major action since WW2 has been highly questionable. Unfortunately people like Henry Kissinger existed and acted in ways that are horrific. It is difficult to tell stories about these events in a way that paints our nation as infallible without appearing fantastic and negligent of the facts.

It seems that you would prefer to watch propoganda regarding these events rather than insist on just and moral action to begin with.

 

[RU_Planning]

Wow there is a whole lotta crazy going on in this thread...

 

[graystork]

Was this ever a thing, or did parents always not exist?

Thank you. At least one person gets it.

 

[anon_xekqhstck0ygt]

can't even read cursive..women use it and when I try to read it, its like a different language. Why is A S Q M N S some other symbol than than the actual letter?

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

If you want movies about American foreign policy directives that don't question the wisdom or morality of our national actions you have to start with actions that aren't questionable and nearly every major action since WW2 has been highly questionable. Unfortunately people like Henry Kissinger existed and acted in ways that are horrific. It is difficult to tell stories about these events in a way that paints our nation as infallible without appearing fantastic and negligent of the facts.

It seems that you would prefer to watch propoganda regarding these events rather than insist on just and moral action to begin with.

You are the one who focused on "jingoistic" movies. And if you want to use that accurately, you should be pointing out all those pro-American movies that are encouraging us to go to war somewhere for some fervently patriotic reason. You couldn't come up with any so you resorted to WWII movies.

I am not even saying we need jingoism. We don't. That was your attempt to deflect from the very real trend of blaming America and Capitalism for every ill in the world.. even when we are attacked in real life.

 

[Riceonthebanks]

You are the one who focused on "jingoistic" movies. And if you want to use that accurately, you should be pointing out all those pro-American movies that are encouraging us to go to war somewhere for some fervently patriotic reason. You couldn't come up with any so you resorted to WWII movies.

I am not even saying we need jingoism. We don't. That was your attempt to deflect from the very real trend of blaming America and Capitalism for every ill in the world.. even when we are attacked in real life.

You have a desire to see America portrayed uncritically. That is jingoistic. There are plenty of movies where the country is presented mostly positively but you want something that is purely pro American.

 

[bac2therac]

Yeah! We're the most free country in the world. Anyone who engages in introspection and self-critique should get out.

thank god most of them have pledged to leave when Trump wins

 

[cooldude33]

As someone who employs recent college graduates in technical areas of finance, economics, statistics and coding, I would caution all you STEM or bust guys as it relates to emphasizing STEM to the detriment of soft communicating skills or liberal arts. As we've overcompensated to hard skills, these kids simply cannot communicate at levels that are acceptable. They lack culture or any ability to make "small talk"--which will really put a damper on their ability to transition into leadership roles in our world of consulting. The last thing we should want to emulate are the systems of Asia which produce socially inept robots--regardless of their STEM genius.

What planet or decade are you from?

The entire millennial and younger generations are nothing but socially inept robots already. Take a look around at anyone high school age or younger these days. It's nothing but staring at the screen of some kind of electronic device 24/7. Nobody engages in small talk anymore unless you're a certified fossil. You send a text message or e-mail if you want to communicate with someone.

Your entire way of looking at the world is quickly becoming outdated. Someone like you won't even be able to function in society 15 years from now.

 

[Babybull244]

The Declaration of Independence & US Constitution are written in cursive - a good way to forget your past...an agenda is behind it!

 

[cooldude33]

Why bother? Schools have already stopped teaching courtesy, morality, personal responsibility.

Those things are not supposed to be taught in schools, they're supposed to be taught at home.

You sound like a ****** parent.

 

[RUTrack94]

I thought cursive was a waste of time until my daughter started getting handwritten recruiting letters from college coaches. It does make it a lot more personal - gotta admit.

I'm more shocked they don't teach more life skills stuff to kids in HS. Every kid should have to take personal finance (to learn about bank accounts, insurance, taxes, etc), home improvement and cooking (yes cooking). These are things we have to do every day but it's not required.

I see 2 reasons. The first is a handwritten note makes a bigger impact than a typed email in thank yous (ex. Job interview). To me, it comes across more professional than printing. It is classy which is why the 1% get it and still learn it. The second is it helps with developing hand coordination. There are different movements in cursive versus printing. I work in computers and type all day, but still find handwritten thank yous have more of an impact than an email in building business relationships.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

What planet or decade are you from?

The entire millennial and younger generations are nothing but socially inept robots already. Take a look around at anyone high school age or younger these days. It's nothing but staring at the screen of some kind of electronic device 24/7. Nobody engages in small talk anymore unless you're a certified fossil. You send a text message or e-mail if you want to communicate with someone.

Your entire way of looking at the world is quickly becoming outdated. Someone like you won't even be able to function in society 15 years from now.

I've been called a lot of things on this board--many of them deserved--but unable to function in society is a new one.

 

[Upstream]

The Declaration of Independence & US Constitution are written in cursive - a good way to forget your past...an agenda is behind it!

And how many people think the first line of the DOI was written as "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necefsary for one people to difsolve"

 

[ruhudsonfan]

I had two years..it was my favorite class with my favorite teacher...I felt that it helped me for sure overall with word meanings and understanding

do they not offer it anymore?

I guess it depends where you go to school.

SPP 2 years is still mandatory. When I was there, year 3 was an honors course and the teacher was awesome. So it was a relatively painless A. And honor's courses were +3 at SPP. We had numeric grades on our reports. So, if you had an honors course and your average was a 90 you got a 93 added into your GPA calc

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Wow this one has really gone off the rails...

 

[beaced_rivals]

Very important.It is far better to learn to curse in a controlled environment than to pick it up on the street.At least in my F-ING opinion.

 

[mildone_rivals]

I've been called a lot of things on this board--many of them deserved--but unable to function in society is a new one.

Sorry, I'd been meaning to tell you about your fossilized socialization skills problem. But damned if I can't figure out how to make that newfangled email and text-messaging stuff work.

 

[RU_Planning]

The irony of all this "millennium" bashing is the folks doing the bashing are the folks that raised them.

 

[oldman87]

thank god most of them have pledged to leave when Trump wins

What the hell happened to you while I was gone? Too much time spent on the CE board?

 

[Riceonthebanks]

The irony of all this "millennium" bashing is the folks doing the bashing are the folks that raised them.

Ain't that the truth. Earlier generations wanted their children to be more successful. The millennial generation was raised by patents who wanted better for themselves so they could punch down their own children. It is really delightful.

 

[Upstream]

Ain't that the truth. Earlier generations wanted their children to be more successful. The millennial generation was raised by patents who wanted better for themselves so they could punch down their own children. It is really delightful.

LOL. You do realize this is not the first generation to complain about their kids.

 

[AshCatchEm]

So when someone writes in cursive like a doctor or lawyer and the young person tries to interpret it, it'll be like they can't read...great idea.

 

[Riceonthebanks]

LOL. You do realize this is not the first generation to complain about their kids.

Yes but they are the first in quite a while to be doing worse.

 

[Block R]

What the hell happened to you while I was gone? Too much time spent on the CE board?

The Julie thing really got to him although her fingerprints all over the Yankees deal may provide closure.

 

[seels2662]

How do you sign your name with an X. I could see it now with this generation, please make your mark here sir. Hell in time they probably won't even know how to hold a pen or pencil.

50 years ago people were saying "hell in time they won't even know how to use a slide rule."

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

LOL. You do realize this is not the first generation to complain about their kids.

The difference of course is that the Boomer's parents fought and survived through WW2. The boomers didn't. Many of them walked out of high school and into well paying jobs.

That is why they are truly the "me" generation. They turned from taking heat about the Beatles and hippy music and then disco into now whining louder than their parents ever did about EDM. They are the generation that benefited from the safety net given their veteran parents who now desperately tear it away and bemoan it despite that causing a recession. And the ones who attended college at the NYC or CA state colleges paid no tuition, and then claim their children are in debt because they didn't study the right thing.

In my experience the "Greatest Generation" may behind on race and sex versus today, but they whine way, way less. The difference is mostly the hypocrisy, and they show the same intransigence towards millenials they showed to their parents.

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

Plenty of NJ schools offer Latin.

But few people take it, because they have career and travel aspirations that don't involve attending mass in a Catholic-breakoff church. And the SAT vocabulary section isn't structured like it was. And many professions that used Latin terms have started moving away from doing so. And learning another Romance language, which is most of what is on offer, gives a similar foundation but more use. Being fluent in Spanish has gotten me everything from jobs to free drinks and cigars to directions to off the beaten path amazing sights to getting service while monoligual Americans sat around to girls' numbers and I could go on here...you're not getting that with a dead language.

Instead, all students should start by learning Spanish, once you have that down you can easily move into Portuguese and French which is a significant chunk of the world right there. Then kids who can handle it should take Chinese, Arabic or Russian.

 

[Upstream]

The difference of course is that the Boomer's parents fought and survived through WW2. The boomers didn't. Many of them walked out of high school and into well paying jobs.

LOL. You truly have no historical perspective.

So what about baby boomer's grandparents complaining about baby boomer's parents?