Why writing is an important skill to learn

In the new digital age where students in middle school and higher grades finish a lot of their homework on their computers, is writing still a necessary skill to learn?

The short answer is “YES”.

Think about the amount of writing you do on a daily basis as an adult. You may not realize it but so many of your daily activities include writing - an email to your team or friend, notes to your child’s teacher, holiday cards, journaling, creating documentation at your work etc.

You are all writers and communicators. Those skills need to be built at an early age.

In this article I discuss five different reasons why writing is an important skill to learn at an early age.

Writing is an important form of communication

As discussed above, think about all the different types of communication that you have during a day, whether they are business or personal. All of these communication skills depend primarily on your writing skills. The writing may not be on a pen and paper but crafting an email is still writing. Crafting a good email requires diligence.

Writing has become an important mode of communicating our most important thoughts, ideas, and opinions with others. Improving the writing skills of young students will help them become confident communicators.

Writing enhances learning

Evidence based research has shown that writing dramatically improves the way one masters the material and that subject could be math, social studies or science. Education experts call this ‘write to learn’ method. As students ‘learn to write’ in language class, they can use ‘write to learn’ technique in other classes to absorb the material.

According to a survey done by the Hechinger Report, ‘writing about content reliably enhances learning.’ The theory is decades old. The act of writing clarifies concepts, improves understanding, and helps one grasp the content better, just like talking to a friend would do.

Writing is an essential job skill

Regardless of the field of career the students are aspiring for, writing is required whether they are trying to create their resume, the cover letter or the letter of application. Most of the jobs even need candidates to write every day. They may not write big, bold stories but they need to effectively communicate their ideas to their peers and managers.

Even before the students hit the job market, they need to write essays as part of the application process to colleges and universities. As students progress through their educational career and later through their job career they will be expected to complete more sophisticated tasks through their writing.

Writing is a form of outlet

I am sure you have heard about journaling as an effective way to manage stress and anxiety. Research shows that daily journaling can help improve your mental health, work on your goals and stay accountable. Some people even find it helpful to express their feelings in writing rather than by speaking.

Expressing yourself creatively, like when you write in your journal about your own feelings, problems and concerns, can help you focus on things in your life that you should nurture, and get rid of things that aren’t serving you.

Writing is how we effectively record information

Writing is the most practical way to document people, events and other relevant facts. Think about all the books that you read and learn about your history. They are all written documents of information from the past.

The news that we hear or read, the court records that provide details of a particular hearing, the website content that describes a company, the technology write-up that explains what a product or service can do - all requires someone to write clearly, and organize information effectively.