Is the keyboard killing the handwriting star?

The Washington Post reports that cursive writing is a dying art among US students:

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters.

And those college hopefuls are just the first edge of a wave of U.S. students who no longer get much handwriting instruction in the primary grades, frequently 10 minutes a day or less. As a result, more and more students struggle to read and write cursive.

As one of those "printers," I have to shrug along with the teachers in the article who aren't that worried about it. I haven't used cursive since the sixth grade, and I've been able to function in society quite nicely.

(I just tried writing that last sentence in cursive. The mess I made would make a doctor's handwriting look legible).

The fading of cursive is more of a nostalgic loss than a practical one, since most communication is now done through e-mail, IM, or over the phone. In today's global market, typing and technology skills are much more important.

Besides, I'm sure pharmacies everywhere would like to see a few more block letters on those chicken-scratched prescription slips....