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Children are struggling to use and pencils because the excessive use of touchscreen phones and iPads is damaging their dexterity, specialists have claimed. Pediatric doctors, handwriting experts and orthopedic therapists are warning that although youngsters can swipe a screen, they no longer have the hand strength and agility to learn to write correctly when they start school. Increasingly, the use of digital screens is replacing traditional skills such as drawing, painting and cutting out, which boost fine motor skills and coordination. “Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not be able to hold it because...

Known for his insightful take on politics, journalist and author Thomas Wictor believes Judge Roy Moore’s signature in Gloria Allred accuser Beverly Young Nelson’s yearbook is a forgery. The sevens in 1977 to the right of “Christmas,” are very different from the sevens in the date (12-22-77) above “Old Hickory House.” “Look at the two versions of the number “7,” tweeted Wictor. “”12-22-77” and “Olde Hickory House” were written by a different person,” he added. Next, Wictor points out “the “R” and “y” in “Roy,”” are not written the same way.

A seven-year-old student was reprimanded for writing her name in cursive. Alyssa, who was only identified by her first name, turned in a homework assignment that focused on vowels. In return, her teacher wrote in red pen at the top of her lesson sheet: 'Stop writing your name in cursive. You have had several warnings.'

A Virginia first-grader born without hands has received the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Manuscript Penmanship. App users, click here to watch the video.

Annie Clark, a 7-year-old born without hands but with a can-do spirit, has won a national award for penmanship. The first grader at Wilson Christian Academy in the Pittsburgh-area was awarded the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellent Penmanship at a surprise assembly at her school Wednesday, where she was presented with a trophy and $1,000 prize from Zaner-Bloser, the textbook publishing company that sponsors the contest...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall. Davis signed the form and then handed it to her daughter for the eighth-grader's signature. "I just assumed she knew how to do it, but I have a piece of paper with her signature on it and it looks like a little kid's signature," Davis said. Her daughter was apologetic, but explained that she hadn't been required to make the graceful loops and joined letters of cursive writing in years. That prompted a...

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) - In this age of cell phones, text messages and computer keyboards, one Scottish school has returned to basics. It's teaching youngsters the neglected art of writing with a fountain pen. There is no clacking of keyboards in most classrooms at the Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville Junior School, although there is a full range of facilities for computer lessons and technology isn't being ignored. But the private school's principal believes the old-fashioned pens have helped boost the academic performance and self-esteem of his 1,200 pupils. "The pens improve the quality of work because they force the...

Penmanship: A Dying Art?SAN MATEO, Calif., June 9, 2003 Monique McGowan sharpens a No. 2 pencil, straightens her posture and sharply slants her notebook to prepare for her weekly lesson in cursive. She and other third graders at Horrall Elementary School have perfected ascenders and descenders, and their letters' tails and legs hit the appropriate base lines - even the tricky capitals G, Q and S. But Monique, who plays games on her dad's laptop at home, says she'd rather punch a keyboard than write cursive. "Computers are better," the 9-year-old says, blonde pony tail bobbing behind her. "With...

At Greenwich Country Day, a prestigious Connecticut private school, computers have all but replaced pencil and paper. Typing instruction starts in second grade, and laptops are mandatory by seventh. Essays are typed, and often class notes are, too. As an adult in today's work world, you don't write anything," said Carol Maoz, head of the upper school (grades 7-9), adding she couldn't think of an occasion students would write out a longhand essay. "You type everything. There really is no need for proper handwriting." Maybe not indeed, even notes get passed in class via text message these days. But next...