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By Dean Norman

I hear that schools no longer teach kids how to write in script. They print words. So kids don’t have to do push pulls or big ovals anymore. That was practice for writing in script in the 1930s.

My second grade teacher said I was making push pulls and big ovals just right by using the big muscle in my arm instead of using the little muscles in my fingers. She sent me around the room to show other kids how to do it. On the test I used the big muscle in my arm, and only got a C grade. Other kids used the little muscles in their fingers and got an A grade. Because their push pulls and big ovals were better. Anyway, I’m not going to complain about that anymore.

It seems that what is taught in school is always out of date with the real world. When I was leaning how to write script with a pen that was dipped into an ink bottle, the real world was using fountain pens.

When my wife was learning to write script in the 1950s she used a fountain pen. The real world was using ballpoint pens. Today kids are being taught how to write on paper with a pencil or pen. In the real world kids are texting their friends by tapping their thumbs on their phones.

They say some kids can’t even read anything that is written in script. Whoa! Will important letters that important people wrote in script become impossible to read by future generations? Or will there always be a few historians who can translate ancient script writing?

My handwriting in script is hard for me to read, so I write letters by typing on a computer and printing the page. My Dad’s handwriting was beautiful. He probably made beautiful push pulls and big ovals when he was in second grade. Besides writing letters to friends, his nice handwriting was really appreciated in his career. He was the city auditor for Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he signed his name on the paychecks of every city employee. He could have made a rubber stamp, but he enjoyed writing his signature.

I liked his signature when he sent me checks. I continue the tradition by signing my name in script when I send checks to my kids and grandkids. Sending money by electronic clicks just doesn’t seem so personal. If you sign a check by printing your name, is that really a signature? Does it work on legal documents?

Maybe schools should at least teach kids how to sign their names in script.

 — Dean Norman

Dean Norman is a cartoonist and humor writer, whose work has appeared in greeting cards, The New Yorker, MAD Magazine, The Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine and The Kansas City Star. He's also written comedy for cartoon shows and written and illustrated children's books. He illustrated a cartoon book for Cleveland Metroparks, Cleveland Metroparks Adventures.