I am a mother & have also taught in the Education Sector for the past 21years. It is now time to stop the ridiculous introduction of enforced mask wearing at schools in New Zealand. Enough is Enough!!! After two crippling years under Covid rules and regulations and the enforcement of vaccinations for freedoms and summer with the goal posts moving yet again and no real end to this in sight- kiwis need and deserve to be able to go about daily life as normal as possible, especially our children - our children need to be allowed to develop, socialise and thrive emotionally. Mask wearing has been proven to hinder all of the above in recent overseas studies, children are becoming more and more disassociated with their peers because of fear based concepts around Covid 19. My children are ‘worried’ about going back to school & that is not ok with me. These “new” rules as of 27th January will hinder our tamariki. Teachers & children need to be able to work in a safe, inclusive, fun environment. There’s not a lot of fun in having to wear a mask for a whole day. Especially in the height of summer!! It even more so does not make sense when everyone can be outside all together playing with no masks during breaks, yet in the classroom mask wearing could be minimised with children being socially distanced. Surely?! Children also deserve to be children, it’s been a stressful few years - to enforce this rule suddenly is devastating to many who have already been so affected by COVID.