MULTIPLY BY 2 - THE PROBLEM WITH TWINS
Mar 18 2010
The University of Birmingham disclosed this week that parents of twins and triplets are 17 times more likely to get divorced than those whose children follow one another neatly in a line. There’s nothing more exhausting, of course, than double-barrelled screaming, but having a same-age household doesn’t necessarily get any easier when your kids go to school.
Fortunately, last October, the charming torture local authorities used to inflict on parents of allocating twins to different schools has now been put a stop to. But even if twins end up at the same school gates, they may still find themselves with different teachers. Often to their disadvantage.
The Twins and Multiple Birth Association (Tamba) has discovered that parents are often not consulted about whether their kids should be kept together in the same class or split up. More worryingly, they’ve also found that separated twins, particularly identical twins, tend to suffer from greater emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression.
Twins or triplets are also far more likely to be premature, which can have a knock on effect well beyond the maternity ward. The state system can be rigidly inflexible when it comes to birthdays. And even if your August-born kids should have first appeared in October, they’ll be sent to struggle as the youngest in the class - a quarter of a year younger than even the youngest in the year.
The private sector is far more adaptable when it comes to year groups and class allocation, but far less generous when it comes to keeping those of different abilities in the same location. Many parents, particularly of non-identical twins, will have to make difficult choices when it comes to secondary school.. And that’s even before the double-whammy fees!
Clearly, multiplication is as tricky a subject for parents as it is for pupils.