Does It Matter That Gen Z Can’t Write by Hand?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Having grown up with smart devices, Gen Z hardly ever writes by hand, and this change in communication has a profound impact.
Children used to learn how to write by hand in grade school, perfecting the craft by second or third grade. But now, even Gen Zers entering the workforce have been known to have handwriting that resembles that of a 6-year-old. This is because they have spent their entire lives writing to each other and taking notes on their phones, tablets and laptops, with few things requiring them to take out a physical pen and paper.
Deseret News reported that Common Core standards began dropping cursive instruction in 2010. Because of that, many Gen Zers never learned how to write or even read it.
“…for many students, cursive is becoming as foreign as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics,” the outlet said, quoting the Washington Post.
Taking notes digitally may not seem like a massive change, and in fact might seem like it has more pros than cons, however, writing down physical notes develops crucial skills that typing does not.
First of all, writing something by hand impacts the brain differently than typing, allowing students to better recall the information they wrote down.
“It’s very tempting to type down everything that the lecturer is saying,” said Audrey van der Meer, a professor of neuropsychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. “It kind of goes in through your ears and comes out through your fingertips, but you don’t process the incoming information.”
Furthermore, when everything is typed, people can rely on tools like spellcheck and autocomplete, robbing them of simple spelling ability or the skill to finish a thought on their own.
Professors have also seen an overall decline in writing ability with many students struggling to write well-crafted, cohesive essays. They attribute this to Gen Z’s use of social media and texting which are short ideas shared through slang. This decline in writing ability is concerning especially as tools like ChatGPT have further enabled students to get away with weak skills by writing papers for them.
READ MORE: HOW AI AND CHATGPT ARE CHANGING EDUCATION
Ironically, as Gen Z moves away from handwriting in favor of digital communication, young people are also losing the ability to type. As many Gen Zers write almost exclusively on touch screens, they struggle to maintain a fast speed while writing on a physical keyboard.
READ MORE: WAIT, WHY CAN’T GEN ZERS TYPE ON A KEYBOARD?
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