Children Struggle to Hold Pencils Due to Too Much Tech, Doctors Say

Megalith

Megalith

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The overuse of touchscreen phones and tablets has resulted in children not developing their finger muscles sufficiently. Increasing numbers of youth are being sent to occupational therapists just so they can learn how to hold a pencil properly.

Payne said the nature of play had changed. “It’s easier to give a child an iPad than encouraging them to do muscle-building play such as building blocks, cutting and sticking, or pulling toys and ropes. Because of this, they’re not developing the underlying foundation skills they need to grip and hold a pencil.”
 
scojer said:
There are some schools not even teaching cursive anymore.

The future is doomed more and more each day.
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I am being totally honest with this question: Why is it important to learn cursive?

As a software engineer i haven't written anything on a hard medium in God knows how long. Only thing i use any form of hand-writing is the rare old fashioned check
 
Smashing Young Man said:
Humanity is quickly devolving, ironically thanks to technology. We'll have the intelligence seen in "Idiocracy" combined with the physical debilities seen in "WALL-E".
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All depends on how it is used. Technology can both make us smarter and dumber. We've managed to use technology to allow us to do all sorts of complex things in simple ways. The advent of the internet and technology allows us to process a lot more information and complex ideas much easier than before. We have nearly all of the recorded knowledge of humanity over tens of thousands of years at our fingertips. The US might devolve into "Idiocracy" but countries that actually give a fuck about education shouldn't run into that problem.
 
Betaboy1983 said:
I'll pack the dirt on that grave actually. I learned it of course, but do I use it... ever?
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travisty said:
I am being totally honest with this question: Why is it important to learn cursive?

As a software engineer i haven't written anything on a hard medium in God knows how long. Only thing i use any form of hand-writing is the rare old fashioned check
Click to expand...

I can say the same thing about a lot of math I learned in school. I don't know the last time I needed to calculate volume, speed, height, distance, circumference, etc.

There are plenty of jobs that require cursive. Even though not all jobs do, it's still something that should be taught. Especially if they're interested in studying history, a lot of historical documents are written in cursive.
 
I wonder if this problem is limited to just hand writing? Do these same can't write kids have similar problems using a hammer or a screwdriver, climbing a tree or throwing a ball? Are we raising a batch of kids for which basic tool use is just a history subject?
 
Parents need to do what they did in my day (when TV was the big distraction). On a Saturday morning the TV was turned off after about an hours worth of cartoons and we were kicked out of the house to play (after we finished our choirs). Even when the weather was bad we were limited to about an hours worth of TV. Didn't really have much of a problem entertaining ourselves. Pretty much everyone I knew limited the TV time for their kids.
 
I mean I have young kids and they use tablets, but they spend just as much time coloring and drawing. I mean literally for this to happen you would have to intentionally prevent them from doing typical kids activities to cause this. I mean who the hell doesn't let their kid color? Perhaps my kids are just abnormal. They spend more time outdoors than indoors.
 
Does not surprise me a bit. Just last week I noticed a youngster struggling to write his name on the guest book at a funeral using the "Thumb-wrap grasp" described in that article.
 
scojer said:
I can say the same thing about a lot of math I learned in school. I don't know the last time I needed to calculate volume, speed, height, distance, circumference, etc.

There are plenty of jobs that require cursive. Even though not all jobs do, it's still something that should be taught. Especially if they're interested in studying history, a lot of historical documents are written in cursive.
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I haven't used these until i started doing video game programming, these skills are a essential and a god send and I'm struggling to remember.
 
sadsteve said:
Parents need to do what they did in my day (when TV was the big distraction). On a Saturday morning the TV was turned off after about an hours worth of cartoons and we were kicked out of the house to play (after we finished our choirs). Even when the weather was bad we were limited to about an hours worth of TV. Didn't really have much of a problem entertaining ourselves. Pretty much everyone I knew limited the TV time for their kids.
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people dohn't do this anymore because kids can't play outside alone anymore. the parents don't want to go outside and watch them so they plop them down in front of the TV, computer, whatever so parent can do whatever they want.
 
How many people using this forum can wield a sword with any skill? Can you spin wool? Can you make stone arrows or make your own bows? Who does the pigment alchemy at the [H]?

Skills become obsolete all the time, it's happening faster now because our knowledge is growing exponentially and so is our aptitude for changing our environment to suit us. Just because the future scares you and renders all your little skills completely useless doesn't mean it's doomed. It's just different, the only things doomed are those who don't adapt.
 
scojer said:
I can say the same thing about a lot of math I learned in school. I don't know the last time I needed to calculate volume, speed, height, distance, circumference, etc.

Especially if they're interested in studying history, a lot of historical documents are written in cursive.
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Well, if you show an interest in high school, then take a cursive class instead of an extra study hall.
Added, I think math skills and a form of handwriting should not really be compared when it comes to life skills.

sadsteve said:
So, you print your name on credit card receipts and documents?
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Nope. doctors writing for that actually.
 
scojer said:
There are some schools not even teaching cursive anymore.

The future is doomed more and more each day.
Click to expand...
We don't even use cursive so it is useless to teach how to write it. Maybe how to read it is still plausible.
 
scojer said:
There are some schools not even teaching cursive anymore.

The future is doomed more and more each day.
Click to expand...

My children (oldest is 12) have never learned cursive at school. Apparently it's a waste of time because everyone types now. The rest of the curriculum isn't fairing very well, either.
 
Bigbacon said:
people dohn't do this anymore because kids can't play outside alone anymore. the parents don't want to go outside and watch them so they plop them down in front of the TV, computer, whatever so parent can do whatever they want.
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Kids 'can' play outside these days. The majority of the homes in my town have fenced yards so there's relatively safe areas for the kids to play in. The real problem is like you said, the parents aren't parenting, they're just using tech-toys to entertain their children while they stick their nose in their phone.
 
sadsteve said:
So, you print your name on credit card receipts and documents?
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A signature != cursive handwriting

Signatures often include, giant embellishments, crazy long tails that circle back, or are just illegible since it's just a personal mark. I'd hardly call what most people use as a signature proper cursive handwriting.
 
magoo said:
It's also why they are all fat, as is over 50% of our population.

Not hard to believe.

Now get your useless hands off my lawn.
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That probably has to do more with us adding sugar to almost all food out there. Even months-old infants are fatter than they used to be due to added sugar in baby formula.
 
Filed away under Fake News, subheading 'Please think of the Children.'

No data, anecdotal evidence... at first I thought it was a joke science article just from the tone, but it really seems like a desperate justification for paying someone a professional salary to teach remedial pencil-holding skills.
 
"Technology advances society, old people complain about it. Story at 11."

I swear, I'm starting to think the people here think this is softforum rather than hardforum.
 
scojer said:
I can say the same thing about a lot of math I learned in school. I don't know the last time I needed to calculate volume, speed, height, distance, circumference, etc.

There are plenty of jobs that require cursive. Even though not all jobs do, it's still something that should be taught. Especially if they're interested in studying history, a lot of historical documents are written in cursive.
Click to expand...

You know what should be taught? Financial responsibility. Too bad the system thrives on the uneducated.
 
Shadow_Foxx said:
I've not read the unabomber's manifesto, but I've heard it has something to do with how technology will be the end of society? Might be an interesting read, despite the fact he was a domestic terrorist
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It's about how we're losing our fundamental humanity to our increased reliance on machines. Machines are less and less about making our lives easier and more and more about making our lives dependent on them to the point that we're essentially enslaved by them. A recurring example used in Manhunt: Unabomber was a red light at an intersection. You stop and look around, the roads are all empty. You look at the light, still red. You look again, still empty. Do you go?
Dead Parrot said:
I wonder if this problem is limited to just hand writing? Do these same can't write kids have similar problems using a hammer or a screwdriver, climbing a tree or throwing a ball? Are we raising a batch of kids for which basic tool use is just a history subject?
Click to expand...
Had a new Airman come in who couldn't use a screwdriver. She just straight up couldn't handle the concept of pushing while twisting.
 
How would we ever be able to communicate effectively in the zombie apocalypse where there is no electricity or internet for typing. Being able to write, whether it's cursive or block printing, will come in handy for communication in that case.
Knowing the basics for how to do things is something that everybody should know, IMO.
 
Stop the therapy and give them even more tech, then their hands will be too weak to use a firearm.
 
viscountalpha said:
Some are devolving, others of us are getting smarter and stronger. Guess who the ruling class will be eventually?
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Depends, the problem is the ones who are devolving are out-reproducing the ones who aren't. And they're being led by other smart people who are willing to use the superior number of idiots and a "one person, one vote" system to keep the rest of us under their thumb.
 
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