Children’s handwriting is dying. Here’s the proof

Children’s handwriting is now so bad that teenagers need lessons in secondary school, experts warn.

Handwriting is taught in primary schools and children are expected to write in cursive “legibly, fluently and with increasing speed” by the time they leave school at age 11.

But the increasing use of screens in and outside the classroom blamed for the decline in how often and how well children can write compared to previous generations.

Children are increasingly writing too quickly to form letters correctly and are finding it difficult to write lines in cursive, handwriting tutors have told The Telegraph.

The worsening situation has prompted calls for handwriting to be included in the secondary school curriculum as part of the government’s ongoing review of the education system.

Robert Halfon, the former Conservative education secretary, said it was “absolutely essential” that handwriting became part of the curriculum for “children of all ages”.

“I’m very protechnologybut good handwriting is one of the most important skills children should learn in school,” he said.

“There shouldn’t even be a debate about whether this should be part of the high school curriculum.

“Every student should have some form of education, otherwise you will end up with a semi-literate society where people only know how to use smartphones.”