TODAY'S SCHOOLKIDS DON'T KNOW HOW TO SIGN THEIR NAME

You know how there’s been talk of not teaching kids how to write in cursive? Here’s the fallout from that decision. At an educational budget hearing in Albany on Wednesday, it came to light that many New York City students, including the children of several state lawmakers, can’t even sign their own names. State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/Brooklyn) said the penmanship problem was brought to her attention while helping one of her constituents fill out a voter registration form. He printed his name, and when she told him to actually sign it, he insisted that was his signature. Meanwhile, Harlem legislator Denny Farrell says his 11-year-old daughter, who attends a private school in Harlem doesn’t know how to sign her name. “They don’t teach it,” he said. And LeRoy Comrie, a senator from Queens, noted that his son never learned that skill either. Malliotakis notes that the lack of signature means you can’t sign a business contract, and makes you vulnerable to identity theft because anyone can just go ahead and print your name. Common Core state standards don’t require students to learn cursive, and the city Department of Education leaves that decision up to each school.
* It was a proud day for state lawmakers in New York, wasn’t it?
* This is why you have the X – the big X that you put on the signature line.
* It doesn’t matter now good your handwriting is – once you have to sign one of those electronic signature pads at the checkout with the stylus, your penmanship just goes right out the window.
* The kids just signed everything “hashtag” and their twitter handle.
* That’s not setting the bar too high is it? Making them sign their own names?
* Of course, if they try to write their names and fail we’ll still give them a participation trophy.
* Not being able to sign your name makes you vulnerable to identity theft? Okay, but, you’re going to be vulnerable to that no matter what you do.
* PHONE TOPIC: Do your kids know how to write?