Why music and handwriting are the antidotes to AI in education

Digital literacy is as essential for children today as languages and maths, and it’s no secret that AI has changed how students approach their studies. But reliance on AI and other technology can affect the development of crucial soft skills in children. “The skills most under pressure are patience, sustained attention, critical thinking and contemplation,” says Ryan Stevenson, co-founder and director of Bright Heart Education, a UK-based tutoring agency. “These all require time, whereas AI can generate answers almost instantly. Proper thinking is a lifelong skill that AI should serve, rather than being its master.” Sukhmani Ojha, an ICT facilitator at Carmel School Hong Kong, notes that AI has impacted students’ willingness to devote time and effort to solving problems. “The most significant loss is the capacity for ‘productive struggle’ – the willingness to sit with a difficult problem, make mistakes and build a solution from scratch. The oyster cannot produce a pearl without grit,” she says. To help nurture and build on the skills that have been dulled by AI use, Stevenson emphasises two solutions: encouraging young children to practise handwriting regularly, and taking up a musical instrument. “Digital literacy alone is not enough. Children also need judgement, creativity and the ability to evaluate information critically,” he says. “When children write by hand, they are processing, selecting and organising information rather than simply recording it. That deeper engagement strengthens memory and understanding.” Beyond fostering creativity and critical thinking, handwriting can also strengthen spelling, vocabulary and writing skills, and improve hand strength and fine motor skills such as coordination and precision, says Nick Staffa, lower school vice-principal at Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS). “All these skills are transferable and support overall development in other areas, such as maths and science,” he adds. The act of handwriting can also be a meditative, mindful exercise that offers a welcome respite from time spent learning and absorbing information from a screen. “The act of writing by hand slows people and their minds down. In a world of digital distraction, handwriting can be a calm within the storm – a peaceful, quiet place away from notifications, alerts and the constant stream of information,” Staffa says. For parents who want to encourage their children to pick up a pen at home, the key is to make it an activity with a purpose. “I recommend to parents to make writing a part of daily life,” Staffa says. “You can encourage writing a journal, their own comics, birthday and thank-you cards, shopping lists … this makes it purposeful, not just practice.” The key is to focus on the writing process rather than “the perfect product”, Ojha advises. “A great way to do this is by ‘grading the messy thoughts’ – actively prioritising the value of rough notes, first drafts or casual doodles rather than rigid essays.” And with a little creativity, handwriting and technology can work alongside one another, with Ojha suggesting that handwriting be used in the planning process before the child moves on to execute the actual task on a digital device. “Handwriting can be integrated through an ‘earn your tech’ rule. If a child wants to use a digital device for a specific task, they must first map out their steps, logic or ideas with pen and paper,” she explains. “This positions handwriting not as a boring, repetitive chore, but as an essential, high-order prerequisite that actively unlocks and empowers digital life.” Stevenson’s second solution is to use the power of music to fill in the gaps in a child’s growth and development that may have resulted from increasing technology use. Like handwriting, music helps children practise patience and focus. “While levels of aptitude naturally differ, music and rhythm are innate to human beings,” he notes. “Learning to play an instrument develops focus and patience, while listening to music helps children develop concentration. “Music is one of the few activities that simultaneously trains attention, memory, coordination, listening and delayed gratification.” Anne Drouet, director of visual and performing arts at CDNIS, describes regular, weekly music lessons as “a gym workout for a child’s brain and heart”. “So many studies show that learning an instrument gives real boosts to thinking skills and overall school performance,” she says. “Brain imaging research even links music training with stronger attention, planning and emotional control – key foundations for focus and resilience.” Ojha says the sheer amount of time and effort required to learn an instrument makes it a good counter to the convenience students now enjoy from AI. “Unlike the instant feedback of AI, learning an instrument demands thousands of hours of repetition. It teaches a child that mastery is not a download – it is a process of failure, adjustment and persistence. It builds the exact cognitive stamina that digital tools often erode.” The speed and convenience that AI brings to many aspects of our lives provides much-needed help for adults, but the technology needs to be treated with caution for young children. Stevenson notes that children already had access to a vast amount of content through streaming platforms before AI went mainstream. “It is rather tempting to know that any answer lies just a few seconds away on a device. However, the tendency towards impatience was already growing through constant access to an endless stream of images and video content over the past two decades,” Stevenson notes. “Resilience with tasks is built through focus and effort, especially when answers do not come easily,” he concludes.

Why music and handwriting are the antidotes to AI in education

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As AI dulls children’s patience and critical thinking, educators say handwriting and learning an instrument can rebuild the skills technology erodes

As AI dulls children’s patience and critical thinking, educators say handwriting and learning an instrument can rebuild the skills technology erodes