Over the past few years, several states have passed laws requiring students to learn cursive in elementary school, in response to the Common Core education standards, which don't mention cursive, or handwriting, at all.

But the Common Core really just reflects a longstanding trend: Cursive handwriting has been on its way out for two generations, long before texting became the preferred way for young people to communicate. When the SAT essay was first introduced, only 15 percent of high school students chose to write in cursive:

Check out the video above to learn more about the past and future of cursive handwriting, and read more about it here.