Why it was forbidden to write with ballpoint pens in schools in the USSR: the reason will surprise you

Everyone knows the attributes of Soviet school aesthetics: red ties, white aprons for girls, brown suits for boys, and standardized backpacks that carried school supplies. And one of the most important attributes of a Soviet schoolboy was a pen.

Until the late 1970s, elementary school students were forbidden to use ballpoint pens. OBOZ.UA figured out what the Soviets didn't like about pens.

In the mid-1970s, ballpoint pens began to go on sale en masse, but the Soviet system was not designed to make people's lives easier. So pens existed, but writing with them was not allowed.

Teachers did not like the idea of ballpoint pens either. Students continued to write with piston fountain pens, which, unlike traditional pens, reduced the risk of blotting but did not eliminate it altogether.

Schools offered penmanship classes. Teachers tried to develop beautiful, calligraphic, neat handwriting in children. Each letter was drawn slowly and carefully, which required perseverance and attentiveness.

There were also official calligraphic requirements. To get certain lines or bends, you had to be able to change the pressure on the pen. It was not easy - the tip of the pen often got stuck to the lint of the paper, scraped off with too much pressure, stains from careless rubbing or ink blots.

And all the blotches and marks were a real disaster for the students, as the entire page had to be rewritten.

Penmanship was not just about handwriting lessons. Soviet teachers turned an ordinary lesson into a symbol of character education. Many people recall how the stains on the sheet were also caused by tears, which were difficult to avoid in such stressful conditions for a child.

Later, a school reform took place, and the hated penmanship lessons were replaced by a five-minute calligraphy class. The font began to simplify, children were already learning to write according to new standards and requirements, and the ban on ballpoint pens was lifted.

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