# Why are children in elementary school required to use pencil instead of pen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660 "2013-06-10T21:39:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/1 "2013-06-10T21:39:41Z")
I have noticed that as you get older, you start using pen more. In fact, I almost always see adults writing in pen. That’s what you guys sign with, that’s what you do paperwork with, and even just in general writing, that’s what I see more commonly used. Now, I am not sure of this as I am still young, but at least that’s what it appears to be. It seems to be the more professional/formal option and more easily red while pencil can get kind of faded out and hard to read easily. I could see elementary school teachers requiring the use of pencil for mathematics, but aside from that subject, I have never really understood why using pens is looked down upon in elementary school. The pen does have one disadvantage being that you can’t erase, but the obvious solution is just to cross out. That’s what I do (I am a pen user for all my classes, even mathematics). I mean, sure it’s not the neatest way to do things, but it’s not like people will be writing drastically neater with pencils. The only advantage of using pencil is the ability to erase. But it seems that the advantages of writing in pen outweigh its disadvantage, except for mathematics. I am actually not certain on all of this. This is merely just my guess on things and I am trying to ask if there’s really a specific reason elementary school teachers really look down on children using pens. So please correct any misconceptions I may have on this and fight the ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/2 "2013-06-10T21:43:04Z")
Well, it’s harder for them to write on each other and all over their clothes with pencils… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/3 "2013-06-10T21:50:58Z")
It’s easier to learn writing and get good control and letter formation with a pencil than a pen because it’s slower and got more friction - more drag from the “lead” than a ball point. And the, what is it, a hexagon? shape is easier for small fingers to get a grip on without it turning in their fingers. My daughter’s writing is pretty good with a pencil, but at 8, she’s just starting to get the fine motor control to write with a pen. Also, do you remember “exploded” pens? I’ve never had it happen to me as an adult, but whatever the heck kids do with pens seems to promote 'splosions. Not fun to clean up in the classroom! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/4 "2013-06-10T21:53:32Z")
So they can correct their mistakes and learn from them, rather than say “fuck it” and move on like an adult. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/5 "2013-06-10T21:54:49Z")
You can erase pencil. Your teacher doesn’t want to have to wade through a bunch of cross-outs. In addition to math, reading, and whatever, the kids are learning how to present their work in a neat and readable fashion. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/6 "2013-06-10T22:16:41Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > I have noticed that as you get older, you start using pen more. In fact, I almost always see adults writing in pen. That’s what you guys sign with, that’s what you do paperwork with, and even just in general writing, that’s what I see more commonly used. Now, I am not sure of this as I am still young, but at least that’s what it appears to be. It seems to be the more professional/formal option and more easily red while pencil can get kind of faded out and hard to read easily. I could see elementary school teachers requiring the use of pencil for mathematics, but aside from that subject, I have never really understood why using pens is looked down upon in elementary school. > > The pen does have one disadvantage being that you can’t erase, but the obvious solution is just to cross out. That’s what I do (I am a pen user for all my classes, even mathematics). I mean, sure it’s not the neatest way to do things, but it’s not like people will be writing drastically neater with pencils. The only advantage of using pencil is the ability to erase. But it seems that the advantages of writing in pen outweigh its disadvantage, except for mathematics. > > I am actually not certain on all of this. This is merely just my guess on things and I am trying to ask if there’s really a specific reason elementary school teachers really look down on children using pens. So please correct any misconceptions I may have on this and fight the ignorance. It is because it is well free !!! In high school I had to go to the store and buy my own pen !! When you get older you don’t get things for free anymore . With school cut backs even if you a kid I’m sure it will not be long to it not free anymore . But the future is tablet computer but problem now is tablet computers are too costly for school :(☹ unless you go to private school they make more use tablet computers and laptops . When the price comes down in the future you see more schools make use of this. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/7 "2013-06-10T23:05:40Z")
A ballpoint pen requires constant pressure for it to work - more than you’d think. A soft pencil needs much less. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/8 "2013-06-10T23:07:08Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > I am trying to ask if there’s really a specific reason elementary school teachers really look down on children using pens. Because the children are so short. Looking formal/professional, and being long-lasting, aren’t exactly high priorities for most of the work that gets done in elementary school. In addition to the fact that a pencil may be easier for a little kid to learn how to use and control (see **WhyNot** ’s post), I’ll WAG that a little kid with a pen (at least in the case of some kids) is a hazard to school books, furniture, clothes, etc. There may also be an element of tradition involved. If I understand correctly, it wasn’t until the 1960s that ballpoint pens became available at a price and quality level that would have made them accessible to children. Before then, writing in pen would have meant using a quill or fountain pen, which was a lot harder to learn how to write with than a pencil: [See this “Peanuts” from 1958.](http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1958/08/25/) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/9 "2013-06-11T00:41:16Z")
For math, you really need a pencil. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/10 "2013-06-11T00:50:28Z")
You make a ton of mistakes when you’re learning the very basics of writing. Cross-outs work when you don’t have a lot of errors. But the average kid makes a ton of them. It doesn’t take too many cross-outs to make for an illegible mess. Teachers don’t get paid enough as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/11 "2013-06-11T01:24:21Z")
I have this weird aversion to pencils. The sound of pencil on paper, is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I remember when I was a youngster; I had to plead my case to the teacher. Most of them were cool with it. I thanked my lucky stars when Erasermates came out. (Heh, I just gave myself goosebumps thinking about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/12 "2013-06-11T01:29:52Z")
From a classroom management perspective, pens have two big drawbacks - clickers or caps. Click pens are irresistible to kids as noisemakers. Pen caps get quickly lost or swallowed. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/13 "2013-06-11T01:34:17Z")
I’m 58 and I still prefer a pencil, then again I’ve been an engineer for years:cool: ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/14 "2013-06-11T01:39:51Z")
At my kids’ school, they don’t erase their (pencil) mistakes - they cross them out. So that’s actually not a factor. However, they do use the superior quality of a pen’s output as a great motivator. The _little_ kids write in pencil. Once you’re a good enough writer you get a “pen license”. You’ve achieved! You’re practically a grown-up now! I suspect that, for ease of writing, probably the best thing to get started on would be a nice chunky felt-tip pen. But that would be just WAY too attractive. You’d never get them onto biros after that. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/15 "2013-06-11T02:00:45Z")
I’m left handed. It’s much easier to wash the graphite stain caused by dragging my hand across the line I just wrote than it is to wash an ink stain. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/16 "2013-06-11T02:29:31Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > From a classroom management perspective, pens have two big drawbacks - clickers or caps. > > Click pens are irresistible to kids as noisemakers. Pen caps get quickly lost or swallowed. When I was in junior high school, we figured out how to take a click-pen apart and reassemble it into a little “gun”. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/17 "2013-06-11T20:05:46Z")
Every time my nephew makes a mistake in his writing exercises, his parents (who can be absolute morons sometimes) make him erase the whole line and write it again. While that’s exaggerated and stupid, specially for a kid who’s constantly being told he’s too slow, the exercises are performed on the pre-printed exercise book itself; for kids his age (he’s in second grade), it’s more common to see books where every line has been partially erased at least once than pristine ones. Also, ink stains on clothing. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Also, do you remember “exploded” pens? I’ve never had it happen to me as an adult, but whatever the heck kids do with pens seems to promote 'splosions. Not fun to clean up in the classroom! 😃 For Bics it’s a matter of sucking on the rear end rather than nibbling or licking it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/18 "2013-06-11T20:21:13Z")
I still use a pencil to write down my deadline schedule. The damn thing changes so much, my calendar would be a complete mess if I wrote things down in pen. I have to have it weapons-grade sharp, however. One use for five minutes and I have to go sharpen it. I was a big fan of mechanical pencils in high school for that reason. I would get the smallest, finest point lead I could find. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/19 "2013-06-11T21:44:35Z")
I had different grade school teachers say you are not to use pens, because pencil erases easily. You will use pen when you’re in the higher grades. In the higher grades if you used pen you still had to erase the mistakes and if you erased a hole in the paper you had to recopy your work on a new paper. The papers had to be professional like you were expected to do for your future employer. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660/20 "2013-06-11T22:00:25Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > For Bics it’s a matter of sucking on the rear end rather than nibbling or licking it. That’s what he said. Sorry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-children-in-elementary-school-required-to-use-pencil-instead-of-pen/660660.md?page=2)