New Jersey: Did You Know Kids Can’t Write Their Own Signature?

We have a bit of a problem developing in New Jersey -- and across the country -- but the effects of it won't be felt for another few years or so.

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My friend Dave, who has a 16-year old and an 18-year old son, revealed that his kids have never been taught how to write in cursive.

At first, I was like, "Okay, big deal?"

Turns out, this could turn into a very real problem in the next few years.

Dave's 18-year-old son recently learned that he had to fill out paperwork to get his social security.

He was doing fine until he reached the end of the paperwork.

There was one big problem: his son didn't know how to sign his name.

First, he learned how to write each letter in cursive. Then he practiced his own personal signature.

He practiced for a whopping 7 days total before being able to put down a signature worthy of the paperwork.

"It took about ten minutes to fill out the paperwork and ten days to sign it."

Does this mean all Gen Zers do not know how to sign their name?

According to Merriam-Webster.com, a signature is defined as, "the act of signing one's name to something; the name of a person written with his or her own hand."

Based on this definition, I guess Dave's son could have written his name in print. But that isn't a signature to me.

I have always thought that using cursive for one's signature was for a reason: it is much more difficult to copy each person's individual font.

Why has cursive been taken out of our curriculums?

Are there other things that have taken precedent?

Is it because everyone is on their phones 24/7 so they don't need to know cursive?

You need your signature. You need that one-of-a-kind swiggle for important documents and you need it to be unique enough so people know its you.

"Never share your signature, Nicole" is what my mom used to say.

But what if they can't write their own signature to begin with? Then what?

Maybe all of this is a moot point because technology could soon allow us to just use our fingerprint or face ID to access important documents in the future.

But still, I am grateful to have a beautiful signature that I practiced 10,000 in math class like millions of other millennials.

Gen Zers: you don't know what you're missing.