Whenever there is footage of individuals or groups on television where those people are holding pencils or pens, it becomes patently obvious that the vast majority do not know how to hold the writing tool.

Fingers and thumbs are everywhere, usually imparting a ferocious grip on the pencil or pen. Discomfort and distaste for writing is mirrored on the faces of many of those who are trying as hard as they can to produce written words or indicators on the paper.

Whenever I observe the huge challenges writing is imposing on those using traditional writing tools, I think back to the time when handwriting lessons for children in primary schools were compulsory. Children were taught how to hold pencils comfortably how to sit when writing and how to position paper onto which they were imparting text.

Those skills are long gone; in fact it’s unusual to see people at work or students at school who are comfortable when it comes to handwriting.

The justification for the sad change is that keyboards and computers are now the way to the future. Computers and iPads have replaced pencils and pens and therefore the handwriting school is redundant. What is unavailable, is the ability for people to use traditional writing tools and there are many situations where this is still demanded.

It may be somewhat amusing but it is literally quite sad to see students and adults who can no longer hand write with comfort and confidence.