Agree that penalizing someone for doing homework during recess or during a free period during school hours is stupid. As for penalties for poor handwriting, that’s partially Catholic school tradition and that was derived from past notions that part of exhibiting one is a cultivated educated person is to demonstrate impeccable handwriting. Not saying I agree with it as I was dinged for bad handwriting while attending Catholic elementary school. Penmanship was probably my worst subject in those years.
It’s also not a past notion limited to Catholic Schools or old-school educational notions in the US/Europe.
During the days of the Chinese imperial civil service exams, one was graded in a manner for good handwriting. If one’s handwriting on the civil service exam is considered to be less than impeccable or there’s something off like an errant ink smudge*, the examiners wouldn’t bother to examine the contents of the exam before flunking the entire exam and the aspiring scholar-official. The gatekeepers within the Chinese imperial establishment were of the mind that if one demonstrated sloppy handwriting or turned in something with slight messes like an ink smudge even if it was due to inclement weather, that it demonstrated one wasn’t cultivated and educated to the standards they expected back then.
- Not an uncommon occurrence considering one had to create one's own ink using a dried inkstone and water and the exam took around 3 days in examination stalls open to the elements. And there were no cancellations for bad weather. Examinees were expected to make preparations for all eventualities without excuses.