An educational budget hearing in Albany, New York, was the site of
a startling revelation recently: many Big Apple students, including those of
state lawmakers, can’t even sign their own names. Assemblywoman
Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/Brooklyn) told Board of Education Commissioner Mary
Ellen Elia that students have become so tech-oriented that they never learn how
to write their names in signature form, leaving them unable to properly ink
contracts, checks and credit cards. “Not only is it sad, but it’s a security
issue. Can you imagine? Not only does it mean you can’t sign a business
contract, but it makes you vulnerable to identity theft because anyone can just
go ahead and print your name,” she stated.
Malliotakis said the penmanship
problem was brought to her attention while she was helping one of her
constituents fill out a voter registration form. He printed his name and she
told him to sign it. He didn’t know how to and insisted that his printed name was his “signature.” This is someone at
least 18-years-old (or very close to it).
Long-time
Harlem legislator Herman “Denny” Farrell says that his 11-year-old daughter
doesn’t know how to sign her name, either. “And she’s smarter than me,” he said
of his daughter. “They don’t teach it,” Farrell exclaimed. LeRoy Comrie, a
senator from Queens, told Malliotakis that his son was never taught that
“skill” either.
John Hancock
weeps.
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