Noah Romero (Teaching and Learning) recently published an article in the Waikato Journal of Education examining the effects of Covid-19 lockdowns on children in Aotearoa, New Zealand. One intriguing finding was the strength of children’s feelings of loss with regard to their friendship groups. Hegemonic thinking and attachment theory are used to discuss how educational trends that privilege personal independence over family bonds might have led to some of the feelings of loss and anxiety highlighted in the data.