What do you suggest instead? Write on stone tablets?
(Thankfully it was just a short lived fad and they all gathered dust in storage fairly quickly.)
Fountain pens were an older invention, but poor reliability and cost kept them out of common use before the early 20th century.
I doubt either progression was controversial. Basic penmanship is similar with all of these.
Ballpoint pens gained popularity around the 1960s. That was (and is) controversial -- ballpoint pens require much more pressure, so they are less comfortable for lengthy writing, and it's more difficult to write neatly.
Children in some countries are therefore still required to use fountain pens at school.
In a professional environment, the last time I wrote on paper is when my computer was in for maintenance. That's like having students use hand-slates in the era of paper.
Because anecdotally: I retain more when I take notes on laptop than if I took no notes. I also retain more when I take notes on laptop than if I took notes on paper because my typing speed can keep up with the topic and my writing speed cannot.
We also have a golden opportunity to teach them where "cut" and "paste" on their parents' computers come from, using real scissors and actual nasty, lumpy paste.
Apple invented it for iOS 3.0 in 2009.