Why did I need to copy an "affidavit" in cursive?

Factual Questions
1

Today, I had to take a teacher certification test. Before I took it, they had me read over some legalese. But instead of just checking a box that said I’d read it and signing, I was directed to copy a summary paragraph in cursive, not to print it.

(As a math teacher, I print by default. I got hand cramps about after every half a line, being out of cursive practice for decades. [I think 5th grade is the last time I was required to turn in an assignment in cursive.])

What was the purpose in forcing me to write it in cursive?

2

Legally, it strikes me as magical thinking, without actual effect.

I suppose it could be their way of trying to ensure that you actually absorbed that paragraph, instead of just skimming over it.

Disclaimer: I am not your lawyer. Don’t rely on anything I tell you.

3

It’s an anti-cheating measure. Less to prove that it’s you now and more to collect something they can use to later identify who it was who took the test for you.

I’m not sure what criteria they use to distinguish a cursive style from any other. Unless they’re grading on penmanship, sloppy writing is hard to categorize.

4

Somebody confused “handwriting” or “handwritten” with cursive. Maybe because “printed” has two meanings.

5

I think the idea is that printed text is easier to forge than cursive text. And I had to do the same thing about twenty years ago when I took the LSAT.

6

Is there a possibility that they are using the handwriting sample for personality analysis? I’ve heard some employers do that.

If so, it’s in the same category as asking your sign, but there are believers.

7

I guess I wouldn’t be able to go back to teaching. I have forgotten much of cursive.

8

The handwriting sampler could be an exemplar for a handwritten portion of the test, if there is one. Cursive is a lot more distinctive

Also, it makes it virtually impossible for a testtaker to later claim that they just checked the box and didn’t read it the legalese.