Mechanical Pencils vs. Regular Pencils

Mechanical pencils, regular pencils, it’s all lead to me right? Well, not exactly. First of all it’s graphite, not lead, though you can read our blog about #2 pencils to find out why we refer to most pencils as lead pencils. In any case, when choosing between mechanical and regular pencils for your classroom there are plenty of things you should take into consideration, which we’ll cover in this blog.

Mechanical Pencils vs. Regular Pencils

Safety

First things first, safety is always a priority in the classroom. As far as pencils go, mechanical pencils are the safer of the two. The point of a mechanical pencil isn’t nearly as sharp as that of a freshly sharpened regular pencil, making it less of a hazard. And speaking of sharpening, the fact that you don’t have to sharpen mechanical pencils eliminates the possibility of a sharpening accident.

Writing

Mechanical and regular pencils are both fine for the writing that students will be doing. The great thing about mechanical pencils is that they stay the same length, making it easier to get a consistent grip and promoting good writing habits.

Erasing

The erasers on regular pencils are generally bigger than those on mechanical pencils, but not by much. In both cases, you’ll probably have to add a pencil top eraser or use a separate eraser at some point.

Durability

Mechanical pencils last longer than regular pencils because they don’t need to be sharpened, but you do have to buy lead (graphite) to keep them filled.