Handwriting skills are on the decline, particularly among young people and children. It is true that handwriting may not be as important as it was, but the skills of writing by hand are necessary even in this digital age.

书写能力在下降，特别是在年轻人和孩子中。诚然，书写可能没有以前那么重要，但即使在这个数字时代，手写的技能也是必要的。

Technology is to blame for the decline of handwriting. With laptops, cell-phones, and tablets being widely used at school and at home, educators have been focusing on teaching their students keyboarding skills, for students can finish almost all their assignments with clicks of keyboard. What they are supposed to do is type their answers into the computer and submit them online to the teacher. That is why many educators agree that today’s children no longer need to develop handwriting skills. Countries such as Finland have gone so far as to drop handwriting lessons altogether in schools in favor of typing courses.

手写的衰落要归咎于科技。随着笔记本电脑、手机和平板电脑在学校和家庭中的广泛使用，教育者们一直致力于教会学生键盘输入技能，因为学生几乎可以通过点击键盘完成所有作业。要求他们做的是把答案输入电脑，然后在线提交给老师。这就是为什么许多教育者都认为现在的孩子不再需要发展书写技能，芬兰等国甚至干脆放弃了学校的书写课程，转而选择打字课程。

Contrary to the view that handwriting skills are unnecessary in this digital age, writing by hand is actually important to children’s learning and long-term academic success. Studies show that handwriting can improve memory, so students will retain learning better through writing by hand instead of typing on the keyboard. The earlier children master handwriting skills, the more successful they will be academically. As a cognitive benefit, moreover, handwriting has a greater impact on brain development, especially the areas of the brain related to literacy development. This suggests that handwriting might aid in enhancing reading and writing abilities in children. This is probably because the process of handwriting helps to create a mental picture while computer processing does not. 

与这个数字时代手写技能没有必要这一观点不同，手写实际上对孩子的学习和长远的学术成功非常重要。研究表明，手写可以提高记忆力，因此学生可以通过手写而不是用键盘打字来更好地保留他们学到的东西。孩子们越早掌握书写技巧，他们在学业上就越成功。此外，作为一种认知优势，书写对大脑的发展，特别是与识字能力发展相关的大脑区域有着更大的影响。这表明手写可能有助于提高儿童的阅读和写作能力。这可能是因为手写的过程有助于创建一个心理图像，而计算机处理做不到这一点。

In conclusion, there should be a balance to strike between typewriting and handwriting. While handwriting has become less and less practically useful, it is still important for children’s long-term cognitive development. 

总之，在打字和手写之间应该达成一个平衡点。虽然手写越来越不实用，但它对儿童的长期认知发展仍然很重要。

1. It is true that handwriting may not be as important as it was, but the skills of writing by hand are necessary even in this digital age.

诚然，书写可能没有以前那么重要，但即使在这个数字时代，手写的技能也是必要的。

2. With laptops, cell-phones, and tablets being widely used at school and at home, educators have been focusing on teaching their students keyboarding skills, for students can finish almost all their assignments with clicks of keyboard.

随着笔记本电脑、手机和平板电脑在学校和家庭中的广泛使用，教育者们一直致力于教会学生键盘输入技能，因为学生几乎可以通过点击键盘完成所有作业。

3. Countries such as Finland have gone so far as to drop handwriting lessons altogether in schools in favor of typing courses.

芬兰等国甚至干脆放弃了学校的书写课程，转而选择打字课程。

4. Contrary to the view that handwriting skills are unnecessary in this digital age, writing by hand is actually important to children’s learning and long-term academic success.  

与这个数字时代手写技能没有必要这一观点不同，手写实际上对孩子的学习和长远的学术成功非常重要。

5. Studies show that handwriting can improve memory, so students willretain learning better through writing by hand instead of typing on the keyboard.

研究表明，手写可以提高记忆力，因此学生可以通过手写而不是用键盘打字来更好地保留他们学到的东西。