Is your teen all thumbs?

We have entered the age of the thumbs. Good thumbs are essential in this tech driven society. To send thousands of texts per month you have to have two agile working thumbs, but does that mean that you surrender use of your other eight digits? Last night we were out with some friends and we were talking about how tech savvy teens are today, but some seem to be lacking one essential skill. They simply can’t write in cursive. A friend told me her daughter a sophmore in high school recently took a standardized test. The proctor told the students to sign their name on a document prior to the test. This simple request sent some in the group into a frenzy? Why? They didn’t have a Number 2 pencil? No they couldn’t sign their name. They never learned cursive. The proctor encouraged them to try and finally told them to print their name and connect the letters. What??? Yes, that is what they had to do because they simply could not write their own name. We know all of us probably write less then we ever did before, but we still can write. No one is asking for the resurrection of quill and ink…a simple BIC pen will do, but this skill deserves to survive. If the school system has decided they will no longer teach them how to write parents should do it. There are still books out their that can help you teach your child this skill. Teens need to know how to sign their own name. In a couple of years I’m sure thumbs will have the ultimate triumph the students will simply be asked to put their thumb print on the application.