When you were in school, nothing was worse than getting back a paper or a piece of homework with notes in red pen scribbled all over it.
Usually, that red pen was there to point out where the mistakes were, with the hopes that you would learn from them and better understand the material next time. Red pen, for most of us, meant something was wrong.
But when 7-year-old Alyssa came home with a red pen comment, her mom was truly taken aback.
Across the top of the page, where Alyssa had written her name, was a pretty stern comment regarding the fact that Alyssa had written her name in cursive. Apparently, this was a problem.
We're not sure why, exactly, as the name is legible, but it seems that Alyssa's teacher, for some reason, preferred the students not write in cursive.
Some people think that the skill of cursive writing is on its way out, especially with typing and digital communication on the rise. However, being able to write legibly is still a life skill — you need to know how to sign your name, after all! Plus, there's something timelessly satisfying about beautiful handwriting.
Do you think Alyssa should be allowed to write her name how she pleases? Or do you think following directions is more important at this age? Let us know in the comments!
UPDATE: We spoke with the person who posted the photo, and it seems that most of the other students didn't know cursive yet, and the teacher worried that Alyssa's skill would make them feel bad. Do you think that's a fair reason? Or do you think it's wrong to stop a child from using their skills?
[H/T: PopSugar]
Here's the note 7-year-old Alyssa received for her choice of handwriting on a piece of schoolwork. It reads:
“Stop writing your name in cursive. You have had several warnings.”
I don’t know about you, but that handwriting looks suspiciously connected to me.
Alyssa apparently learned cursive at home from her mother.
Despite this teacher's warning, cursive has been taught for generations in schools all over the world, usually to children around Alyssa's age.
In fact, cursive is many times the mandatory writing style for assignments.
Most of us can remember practicing penmanship on ruled paper, like this handwriting exercise. Languages that use other alphabets, like Russian, Arabic, and Chinese, also have cursive styles.
And while some say it's a dying art thanks to keyboards, there are plenty of people who still practice it, and like the Reddit user above, turn it into a true work of art.
And despite living in a digital age, being able to read and write cursive is still very much a practical, everyday skill.
For one thing, if you can't read cursive, then you can't read important historical documents like the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
And as for writing it, it's necessary when it comes to signing documents.
Everything from a simple credit card receipt to a legal document like a house deed requires a signature — in cursive.
Kids who learn cursive and write in it regularly have also shown increased brain activity and creativity, and that they could more easily learn new vocabulary words when they wrote them out by hand rather than typed them.
Just ask William Shakespeare, who wrote his plays in cursive.
In today's world, knowing how to type is a must, but it seems that knowing your way around cursive is still a skill that many find useful, as well as beautiful.
We may never know the teacher's reasoning for reprimanding Alyssa for her signature, but it seems that the internet is siding with Alyssa on this one.
Do you? Let us know in the comments, and SHARE this story with your friends so they can weigh in, too!
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
