Cursive writing is making a comeback. Why?

A story in the New York Times about a resurgence of interest in teaching children to write cursive, including a legislative proposal mandating it in New Jersey, quotes Tamara Plakins Thornton, UB history professor and author of “Handwriting in America: A Cultural History,” who says the pendulum tends to swing back to studying cursive during times of cultural upheaval. She said: “Cursive — it’s all about following rules. Whenever the present looks scary and the future looks worse, we tend to want to go running back to the past.”