Do not put away the pens

Text: an original contemporary speech-style practice extract.

At the start of term, our tutor placed a blank card on every desk and asked us to write one sentence about the holiday. The room, usually quick with keyboard taps, went oddly still. One pupil held the pen as if it were a tiny tool from a museum. Another whispered, “Can I delete this?” There was no delete key. There was only a line waiting to be crossed out.

That small struggle is not a reason to reject technology. Typing lets us move ideas, correct mistakes and share work quickly. But speed is not the only skill worth keeping. A shopping list, a birthday message, a note left beside a door: handwriting belongs to ordinary moments because it carries the marks of the person who made it. Neat or untidy, careful or hurried, the words arrive with a human trace.

So let us use screens when screens help. Let us also keep pens moving. A school should prepare us for the newest tools without making older ones feel forbidden. The keyboard can open a window; the pen can leave a footprint. We do not need to choose one and bury the other.