Kids need a pen so they do not get graphophobia

AT A RECENT calligraphy training program in Beijing, scholars and experts expressed their concerns about the declining calligraphy abilities of pupils. Eastday.com comments:

The poor Chinese character writing ability of primary and middle school students has become a "collective anxiety". The problem, of course, has much to do with the popularity of computers, because people rely more on typing, not writing. One survey after another has shown that people's ability to write calligraphy is much weaker than that of past generations. In one reported case, a college graduate reportedly had 24 errors and mistakes in 400 handwritten characters.

According to Su Shishu, president of the China Calligraphers' Association, we now face a "calligraphy crisis" in which people's ability to write characters by hand is declining.