Have you heard this story about twins being separated at school?

[Moomin]

link here

Would be really interested to hear what other people think...

[pointydog]

I think the key thing here is that it's about secondary school, not primary.

[cazzybabs]

We tend to seperate twins at the infact bit I work at. They are fine. I think it is the parents who worry most. It is for a few hours everyday - not the end of the world.

And as for secondary age the mother is clearly mad!

[ernest]

she's a loon.

I'm their mother and I know best. Totally disagree. And then some.

imo

When I saw the OP I honestly pictured 2 little 4 year old girls in my head. Looked at pic & it's 2 strapping lads, 1 of whom is sitting on her knee!!! .

omg 10 years old. They are going to get the piss taken out of them sooooo much (if she ever lets her lickle darlings go to school). And that's if they're lucky.

[Blandmum]

worrying about 20 mintes a day is , IMHO silly. Once the children are put into sets for subjects, they may well not be in the same teaching groups anyway. I've taught identical twins who were in different sets.

[roisin]

She does come across very oddly, doesn't she? I really can't understand her PoV. Surely even the closest of twins will benefit from some enforced separation at age 11; they need to mature into healthy mature individuals.

Is it possible she has another agenda? I was wondering whether she actually wanted them in a different school, and was trying this angle as an attempt to get them admitted to a different school? Or am I just very cynical?

[McEdam]

Thing is, she is their mother and presumably knows them better than some headmaster who has either never met them or met them once. Just because some of us would do something different ourselves doesn't make her wrong about her children.

I'm surprised the school has a policy about who goes in what class which all children must obey whatever their individual circumstances. I thought schools were meant to take account of each pupil's needs. I also don't like the headteacher insisting he knows best because he has consulted the experts. None of them are experts in this family.

Smacks of paternalism of the sort people object to on other topics. Why is it so bad for a mother to have an opinion about her own children?

[ernest]

an opinion is one thing, refusing to let them attend school unless the school fulfills her wishes is another, especially when this amounts to 20 minutes a day. I don't care how well she knows the, It is just plain not healthy to insist on 2 people being together 24/, no matter what.

And anway, this article has been all ablout what she wants. She isn't even going to the bloody school. There is no quote from either of the boys saying they can't imagine spending 20 minutes a day apart and how much they'd suffer as a result?

When they leave school does she imagine that they'll get a flat together and a job in the same office? At some point they're going to have to learn to cope without each other, and maybe 20 minutes a day isn't such a huge leap?

loon.

[Pixel]

Daft woman, they're 10 years old! When does she think it will be ok for them to spend 20 mins apart. And what exactly does she think is going to happen to them during those 20 mins?

[McEdam]

How do you know she's insisting on them being together 24 hours a day? How do you know one doesn't go to Scouts while the other has music lessons?

I'm just surprised that so many parents, who would normally object to professionals insisting they know best despite what the mother says, are so condemnatory of this woman. It goes against the trend on MN. Why? Is it something about twins?

[Scotia]

Whoever knows them best, they can surely manage twenty minutes a day apart. She's making a song and dance about nothing.

[NoBiggy]

To everyone on this thread who has described her as a loon, can I just say:

You are so right.

[AufishFeQueen]

I think she's being too precious, they need to learn to live without each other! It's only for 20 minutes FGS!

[BreeVanDerCampLGJ]

Fruitloop.

[Ulysees]

She hasn't done them any favours.....they're going to end up english proclaimers

Seriously, this mother needs to see someone or get a life. Totally unreasonable IMO.

[LIZS]

20 minutes of separation is hardly going to hurt them . Presumably they are ability grouped or setted according to options for much of the rest of the day anyway, so she may find that even her alternative school doesn't actually keep them together in practice. Story (written version at least) seems to be 2 months old , do we know hat she did in the end ?

[SoupDragon]

"How do you know she's insisting on them being together 24 hours a day? How do you know one doesn't go to Scouts while the other has music lessons?"

It's a fair assumption given that the mother won't let them be apart at school for 20 minutes a day!! Do you really think they'd be allowed to do separate after school stuff?

She's a control freak IMO. It's 20 minutes a day. If they can't cope with that then they have a serious problem.

[mytwopenceworth]

I think that it is not a good idea to create and encourage a mutual dependence. They are 2 seperate people...would a parent insist that non-twin siblings were together all the time?

To me, it is like seeing them as one person. They are 2 people and should be treated as such. They may very well be close, that's fine, good even, but there's a difference between being close and being reliant. They need to develop their own identities and they can't do that if they are always together, seen as 2 halves of one person, dressed the same, called The Twins or Twinnie, etc etc. It makes me think of those twins you read about who married twin brothers and all live in the same house and called their kids the same names.

I just don't think it is healthy.

[Blandmum]

She isn't going to be able to dictate that the kids stay in the same teaching sets, if they differ in their abilities. And even identical twins vary in their ability/ interest in different subjects!

So, to be blunt, they may as well get used toi being separated, because it will almost certainly happen at some point!

[Pinkchampagne]

Silly woman!

[RustyBear]

She keeps saying that she knows them best, but she's unlikely to know them at school as well as their primary school teachers, who have also said they would be better off being more independent. Children can act completely differently at school from the way they do at home.

[bubblagirl]

i am a twin i have twin brother and we were seperated at school because we did tend to stick together and copy each other it was to help us make our own friends and learn on our own instead of feeling like we only had each other it certainly did us good

[Bubble99]

Will they need to go to the same unis, and later apply for the same jobs?

[mytwopenceworth]

It's going to be fun on their honeymoons......

[Blandmum]

And what next? 'My child has always sat next to Y in class, I insist that you put them in the same class. And you must do this, because I know my child best'

'My child is super bright and so you must put him.her in the top set for eveything. You must do this, because I know my child best'

'You cannot exclude my child for bringing a knife to school, because I know him best and I know he wouldn't have stabbed anyone with it'

Oh sorry, the last one was real

[minorityrules]

Twins should alsways be separated at school. They are individual people and should not be put together just beacuse they are twins

They need to learn to be independant from each other and follow their own lives

Same reason why they shouldn't be dressed the same. They need to discover their own identities

They are not one person, they are 2 very different people