College Students Don't Know How To Mail A Letter

https://wtop.com/local/2018/09/why-...stage-stamp/

The well documented lack of familiarity with letters and stamps seems to be impacting on voter turnout this year. Apparently a lot of absentee ballots are not being returned because young voters do not know how to use stamps or where to get them.

I may be too harsh on this age group, my own son is among them- he's a bright young man but still needs help from me when paying bills by mail. He's lucky; he at least has a dad who know what a stamp is. Incredible..

Wow, times have changed!I do seem to recall when I was in school we were taught not only proper letter writing etiquette, but also how to address an envelope. You almost have to feel bad for kids today.

Not only that but when I was in school I learned how to write a check or write out a deposit ticket. Of course, with mobile deposits I suppose that won't be a necessary skill in the future. And now that "they" have decided to not teach cursive in schools anymore, how is anybody several years down the road supposed to read old documents, letters, etc.?????????

With the recent anniversary, I heard it said that the kids graduating from high school this year were not even alive when the WTC buildings fell on 9/11. We are old.
Don

Writing in cursive is the fastest, most efficient way to communicate on paper, and it requires no computer or cell phone.

Cursive writing has not been taught in U.S. schools for some years now. It is no wonder that young people think very differently.

It is not just stamps and letters ,it is everything else . Try telling a young person about the stock market or commodity trading. I try to talk markets and interest rates with them and they have no clue.

I plan to put a lot of young people someday into the fast and big money in investing in stamps ,they are going to buy from me at 80% of catalog for all the stamps of the fast developing countries and then they could sell all this wallpaper to all these new rich people in those countries ......easy money that can be made while they play on their IPHONES .

This new generations knows nothing about the Tulip scam, Ponzi sceme , or even Bernie Madoff ,it is going to be a walk in the park when I get started .

"Cursive writing"

I do not weep for its demise. I hated it in elementary school. I can read it, but it just hurts my hands.

I'll be sure to alert the FBI so they can start tracking you now. It'll save time later...

When I was in high school ages ago, there were the same issues - most of us did not know how to write a check, do taxes, concepts on banking, renting, etc. The parents have to be involved too.

They also can't tell time on an analog clock or describe the time that way. My wife is a H.S. tutor, this is quite true. "It's 10 to 5." - "wha?" - "4:50" - "oh"

Presumably cursive is that leaning-to-the-right hand with lots of loops style that all Americans seemed to use. Even when I started infant school at the end of the '50s, we weren't taught a particular style. In my first year at grammar school, our English teacher, "Donkey" Derby, taught us italic. He'd cut his chalk into an italic nib shape before starting work on the blackboard ("chalkboard" in cursive).

Begs the question....why aren't postage paid reply envelopes included with the ballots?

Battlestamps, you can get often free typefaces that imitate cursive, so you're covered.

I agree with Angore, it's not on just the schools. I can believe the "too much hassle to return the ballot" part, but there are still plenty of online references on how to get postage - I just looked. Maybe stamps today need a "peel stamp from backing sheet, other side toward envelope, placing stamp in upper right corner of envelope. Please use an envelope." etc.

graphis, one problem is that a lot of people will complain about having to pay for that postage via taxes. Also, imprinted reply mail doesn't normally get cancelled so date of mailing can't be established, not that smudge cancels help any.

Here is a novel idea. Show up in person and vote.

That may not be feasible for a lot of people who have to work out of town and there's employers who don't give their employees time off to vote.

hy-basil: True, there's typefaces for pretty much any font and cursive. I just remember it was the bane of my existence in the 1970's in elementary school. If my kids don't learn how to write in cursive it won't be the end of the world. They'll probably be taught how to code instead.

For a moment, I thought you were making a Claymore mine joke.

Yes, Virginia, they taught check writing in public school. Quite the bore for me, as my parents had me writing the rent check when I was 4, so's I would know how it was done.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey