indenting paragraphs

[Dale Coye]

    Not a dialect question, but maybe of interest:  what's going on with
indentation of the first line of paragraphs?   I've been noticing that more of my
students are not indenting.  Did someone change the rules since Miss Farley
taught me in fourth grade?  I've got a series of books here from the Open
University --none indent paragraphs--they put spaces between them instead.  I've got
a St. Martin's Handbook on academic and professional writing--2003 and it not
only does it not even mention indenting paragraphs, its own style is to not
indent the first paragraph in each section, and then to indent all subsequent
paragraphs.
     AND--now that I look at American Speech, it's doing the same thing:
indents all but the first paragraph in each section.
      Some of my students coming from community college are telling me they
were taught not to indent.  How long has this been going on?

Dale Coye
Wilton, NH