The Pen Is Mighty

I have a system when I teach for kids who forget pens, books or anything else they need to be successful participants of the lesson. They have to trade something valuable of theirs for whatever they need to borrow from me. That way I know they'll remember to give me back my belongings at the end of the lesson.

Some students, who have remembered to bring their own pens, will still trade with me for one of mine because, according to them, mine are "better". I suppose they mean nicer but even that is a stretch. The kicker is that they have Bic pens and I have Bic pens. The difference is that their Bic pens are Dutch and my Bic pens were purchased in America. It's all Bic but the kids insist that mine write better and just are better.

What does that mean? They write better. I understand that some pens are easier to write with, glide over the page better but does improved penmanship influence the written word? Will a good pen make you a good writer? Will you pay more attention to what words you write if they look good when you write them?

Does having a pen that writes well make us write well?