going the way of the Dodo bird??

A friend asked me recently what I thought about the fact that they are not teaching cursive writing in schools any more. My first impulse was to say it's terrible that they aren't teaching cursive any more. After all we had to learn it why shouldn't they? But the more I thought about it the more I found myself wondering why they should learn something they will seldom, if ever use. My grandson, a sophomore this year, recently told me about the process he used in submitting a written report. He researched and typed the report on his computer, and e-mailed it to his teacher before midnight therefor getting it turned in on time. Not only did he not use cursive to write his report he didn't even use paper.  Another friend pointed out to me that people need to be able to sign their names on checks and other documents. I guess there are still documents that require signatures - checks, mortgage documents, etc. although honesty compels me to admit that the signature I scrawl on the card reading machines at grocery and other stores seldom really resembles my actual signature. I was talking about this with my grandson and granddaughter as I drove them home from school today and they both assured me that they can sign their names. In fact my granddaughter went on to tell me that she had very good, pretty handwriting but when she showed me a sample it was very good, even, nicely shaped printing. Perhaps they just need to teach a class on signing legal documents'
I have a few samples of my grandfather's handwriting and he wrote in what they used to call copperplate, very elegant cursive. Perhaps we should promote cursive writing as an art form - like the calligraphy I studied in college. When I was in eighth grade our teacher, in an effort, even back then, to improve our cursive writing, actually had us writing with pens (no,  not quills - I'm not that old) dipped in ink. It was messy but fun. I think he gave it up and switched us over to ball point pens pretty quickly.One more thought, schools might consider teaching cursive as a relaxation exercise. I remember thinking, as I wrote rows and rows of c's that they reminded me of ocean waves, very relaxing.