While the production of my Lowdown commentaries is high-tech, I confess that I’m antiquated.

I still write each piece in longhand, applying my ballpoint to paper. This has caused bewildered glances from some who see me scribbling away in local coffee shops and bars. Recently, one fellow sidled up and whispered: “Watch out! If they see you doin’ this, they’ll haul you off to the Smithsonian.”

But we hand writers might not be as obsolete as the key-tappers assume. A fast-spreading grassroots movement is calling for schools to reemphasize the value of writing and printing by hand, instead of being wholly dependent on machines. Already, 24 states — as varied as Mississippi and California — now require public schools to teach cursive handwriting in third through fifth grades.

This squares with a new understanding of how brains absorb information. While keyboards are faster, the........

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