Cursive writing could become a requirement for students in Pa

Even in a world where computers and online learning have become paramount in education, Pennsylvania lawmakers could be adding an old-fashioned wrinkle to student development: cursive handwriting.

On June 24, a bill passed in the state House of Representative by a 195-8 margin that would mandate cursive be taught in schools. The legislation currently sits before the state Senate for consideration. Rep. Dane Watro, a Republican who represents parts of Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, is the main sponsor of the bill.

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"In an increasingly digital world, cursive has fallen by the wayside," Watro said in a statement. "However, there are compelling cognitive, developmental, and practical reasons for ensuring students have at least a basic grasp of cursive writing."

In a 2020 study published in "Frontiers in Psychology," researchers wrote: "For young adults, we found that when writing by hand using a digital pen on a touchscreen, brain areas in the parietal and central regions showed event-related synchronized activity in the theta range. Existing literature suggests that such oscillatory neuronal activity in these particular brain areas is important for memory and for the encoding of new information and, therefore, provides the brain with optimal conditions for learning."

A story in "Scientific American" published in 2024 also indicates that writing by hand is better for learning and memory. And the University of California, Riverside states, "The fluidity of cursive allows for smoother, uninterrupted writing, enabling students to focus more on the content they are producing rather than the mechanics of forming individual letters."

There are 24 states that have laws requiring cursive writing be taught in schools: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

New Jersey is awaiting the possible passage of legislation after a bill passed in its Senate Education Committee for students to learn cursive from kindergarten to fifth grades. 

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