Taking a break from technology, I would like to focus on something relatively simple; writing. I am literally referring to the process of taking a pen into your hand, forming letters that eventually become words and words that eventually become sentences. I am about to disarm many of you with this statement:
I cannot remember the last time I wrote something down!
I’ve been using a computer for so long that I barely have the opportunity to use paper and pen. This scares me.
What scares me even more is the fact that our kids will write even less then we did when we were children. I remember working hard to learn to hold a pencil. Then it was on to learning to construct letters in print. Finally, the dreaded cursive. I hated writing in script because it was so difficult to loop letters together in a fancy way.
Today, schools (public and private) are filled with computers. Children still learn the fundamentals of reading and writing, but as soon as they are able they are typing away. Where does this leave the old paper and pen?
Will our children still be as proficient writers if they are using computers 90% of the time? Look at our world: nearly everything is computer-based. From writing an email to checking your bank balance, it’s all done on the computer.
So what do we do as parents? We create activities with which to use paper and pen with our children. Since our society is computer-based, we must re-introduce the paper and pen. This means we sit down with our kids and write real letters (with stamps and all) to send to relatives who live out of town or even in town! We draw with our children. Find an excuse to get off the computer and use some ink and tree carcass!
Ball point, felt tip, blue, black or red ink; It doesn’t matter which one you choose. Just break it out and start writing!