The Numbers Six and Seven Are Making Life Hell for Math Teachers (msn.com) 165
Math teachers across American schools are contending with a classroom disruption that has proven impossible to contain. The numbers six and seven now trigger instant pandemonium among students. They scream the phrase and perform a palms-up seesaw hand gesture whenever the numbers appear in equations or instructions.
Teachers have begun avoiding breaking students into groups of six or seven or asking them to turn to page 67. The meme has no meaning, reports WSJ. That absence of meaning is the point. The phenomenon traces back to late last year when Philadelphia rapper Skrilla released "Doot Doot (6 7)," a song referencing 67th street where his friends grew up. The phrase spiraled into youth culture in March through a viral video of a boy with forward-swept hair lurching toward a camera to deliver an animated "six seven." Skrilla is now touring venues where audiences wait for the six-seven line. Some teachers have attempted to neutralize the meme by saying it themselves.
Teachers have begun avoiding breaking students into groups of six or seven or asking them to turn to page 67. The meme has no meaning, reports WSJ. That absence of meaning is the point. The phenomenon traces back to late last year when Philadelphia rapper Skrilla released "Doot Doot (6 7)," a song referencing 67th street where his friends grew up. The phrase spiraled into youth culture in March through a viral video of a boy with forward-swept hair lurching toward a camera to deliver an animated "six seven." Skrilla is now touring venues where audiences wait for the six-seven line. Some teachers have attempted to neutralize the meme by saying it themselves.
Kids (Score:4, Funny)
Kids say dumb shit, film at 11
Re:Kids (Score:4, Insightful)
"Ok class, the next time anyone disrupts class with an outburst like that, they will go into detention. Furthermore, any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments for the day, that will affect your grade."
Back it up with action.
Of course, I have never worked as a teacher and have no idea what the problem with this is. I wonder if someone with my "punish disobedience" attitude just wouldn't succeed as a teacher, these days.
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oops (Score:2)
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Disciplining kids is so 20th century.
Parents are far more self righteous then when we were kids, I think modern teachers get a ton of pushback whenever they try to discipline kids in the same manner they would have in the 80's and 90's. I agree though, every kid doing this should be sent through the discipline process until they either shape up or they're made their parent's problems.
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>"every kid doing this should be sent through the discipline process"
100% agree. After one warning.
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Well sure, a warning is part of the discipline process. They are kids after all.
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Given how many of these kids don't move out until their 30s or, worse, go to college then move BACK IN. I'd say the parents are already reaping what they sowed.
Re:Kids (Score:5, Informative)
But what is actually wrong with what they are doing?
That's not obvious? They're disrupting class and everyone's ability to learn which is the entire reason they're at school not to mention being incredibly rude to the teacher. Not disciplining them is just teaching them that they can get away with behavior like this and many of them will likely have problems later in life because of it.
Re:Kids (Score:4, Informative)
What does that have to do with anything? Of course being disruptive in class isn't illegal, that doesn't mean it should be allowed.
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- You made my child cry, I want 10 million for pain and suffering. Oh and for you to be fired.
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I'm from the "give them something to cry about" school rather than the "give them something to make them stop crying" school.
But over time we've actually shifted away from 'punishment' to 'debt' and the way to clear the debt is generally something which is beneficial. You are never good enough, you should always strive to win, etc are built-in but on their face are a recipe for NEVER being content no matter how much you succeed so we've kept the competition and notion of continually recognizing your mistake
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Kids doing this are probably too young to really care about their grades. It might also be illegal, as in some jurisdictions you can't reduce the measurement of someone's ability due to their behaviour, because then it's not a measure of their ability anymore. There is a separate disciplinary record for that.
People seem to forget that children are children. It's unrealistic to expect them to spend all their time at school being serious.
But of course, the story is largely an exaggeration anyway.
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Kids care about their grades if their parents prioritize getting good grades. It all starts in the home. Being this is about American students (you are in the UK, right?), I wouldn't expect you to know that Americans on average, don't really seem to value education. Many of us do, but the jocks and con-artist are still vastly more important then the scientists.
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Ok class, the next time anyone disrupts class with an outburst like that, they will go into detention. Furthermore, any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments for the day, that will affect your grade
And then the kid doesn't show up for detention, then what? You call the parent, they don't answer the phone or if they do they blame you. Then what?
The only ones who do the extra homework are the kids who aren't causing the problem. So why punish them?
The kids who are disruptive don't care about their grade. So then what?
It's a tough time for teachers and blaming them is unfair.
It's easy to blame parents / guardians, but it's a tough time to be a parent / guardian, too. Rent and food keeps on going up
Re: Kids (Score:2)
I will always cherish.those days I was taught by nuns that had various yardsticks and pointers at there disposal.
WWWHHhhaCCKKKK right on the chalkboard and everyone knew it was business time. Frozen in our seats there was nothing but dead silence.
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> any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments Also known as "collective punishment". Like if your neighbor was speeding today, everybody in your street would have to pay a fine.
And? Seems like that would be an ideal solution. The only way shit like this become unacceptable is if the "community" shuns it. After a couple speeding tickets you don't think the rest of the residents on that street would start doing something about the problem themselves? It's been a long damn time since I was in school, but I can't imagine the power of being shunned or shamed by your peers has lost its power.
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That might start to feel like your life is getting destroyed because of something you have no control over, right?
I guess that's where our opinions differ. The other kids absolutely can and should do something about it. All it would take is one or two of the "important" kids in the class to stand up and say "Hey, howbout you all knock off the bullshit, you're better than this." Like I said above, peer pressure can be a powerful influence in both directions. Is it fair to punish someone for something they didn't do? No, not really. But life isn't fair sometimes. And I'd argue that their inaction to help get their p
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Wow, how long have you been out of high school? Seriously, good luck with that. The ones most likely to be acting out and being self important shitheads typically were the "important"/influential kids (ala Mean Girls). The responsible smart
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Punishing disobedience is racist.
[citation needed
Citation needed is fascist.
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I like the last line of the summarize. The teachers should co-op it. It will immediately be dropped because anything an adult is doing won't be cool anymore.
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You co-op it and make them think you love the meme. Then all it's "coolness" goes away.
Re:Kids (Score:5, Insightful)
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Nah... I had teachers that tried that strategy when I was in high school. Reverse psychology is not as effective as you think.
Kids may be inexperienced, but they aren't as stupid as we think they are.
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My wife looked into this, and said it came from a basketball announcer saying something like "He's only 6-2, but he plays like he is 6-7", and *then* it took off. Not sure if the Skrilla line actually was lifting from *that* or if that was the original.
But yes, it's a thing. My kid will go, "Six Seven... Eleven" because it rhymes and is stupid and just this morning a bunch of kids at his elementary school were rhyming it a lot. Yes it is dumb. Yes it will go away in a month.
Re: Kids (Score:2)
So does the immediate instinct to "contain" it say more about how school is authoritarian first of all, not about knowledge at all?
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That sounds like the line out of Bedazzled when Brendan Frazer wished to be an NBA player. Great movie. Highly recommend it.
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Re:Kids (Score:4, Interesting)
They do. And they always have. I don't know how to describe this phenomena to you in a way that communicates what this is like. For disclosure, I have three kids. Two are of high-school age and are largely too old for this particular meme. The third is in elementary school and that's where this seems to hit the hardest.
Those two numbers together is enough to get better than 90% of a group of elementary school students to reflexively shout "SIIIIIIIIX-SEEEEEVEEEEEN." You can punish them. You can deny them recess. You can tell them they get extra homework. They don't care.
Part of the reason they don't care is that educational philosophy doesn't allow particularly hard-nosed punishments for little kids. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. When I was a kid the principal was allowed to literally beat kids with a wooden bat which seems like maybe not the best idea.
But the other reason they don't care is that the meme is almost universally reinforced by people they like and care about: influencers and video content creators. That group is fairly rarified and the meme is extremely wide-spread so, while they're all engaged with personalized content, nearly all of it carries the meme. The people pushing against it are teachers and parents but part of the appeal of the meme is that it is absurdest (kids don't know what that means but they appreciate it anyway) and irritates parents/teachers/etc.
It's like the "jingle bells batman smells" song when we were kids, but not seasonal, linked to two integers, and ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE in media pitched to elementary aged kids.
And so it's really, really easy for it to cause teachers to lose control of a classroom. It's not that the content of the stupid shit that kids say is unique or different here, but that the level of disruption and the ubiquity of the issue is notable.
42 (Score:2)
Our focus on 42 is not much more logical, but the humor is more advanced.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]
Re: Kids (Score:2)
Rapers says dumb shit.
Why is 66 afraid of 67? (Score:5, Funny)
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Why would 66 be afraid of two other numbers 69ing?
Re: Why is 66 afraid of 67? (Score:2)
I knew that 6 is afraid of seven because 7 8 9. Seven ate nine.
Is this a special needs thing? (Score:2)
69 used to be a thing, or maybe still is, but at best you'd get some laughter, not full on mental breakdown.
Re:Is this a special needs thing? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Absolutely teachers would make sure to avoid trigger words in the early 2000s (source, my ex wife was a teacher then).
You probably were unaware of it because you were a student.
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Americans are children until 26 now.
Really? (Score:5, Informative)
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Why not punish everyone?
1) Evidence-based education. "Trauma-informed education researchers note that punitive group sanctions can increase student resentment, anxiety, and disengagement, especially for innocent bystanders.[18] Such practices also undermine trust between students and educators—even dissuading children from reporting misconduct for fear of group reprisal." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
2) Because as a teacher you're supposed to teach them the right thing to do, and collective punishment is something we don
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Why not punish everyone?
1) Evidence-based education. "Trauma-informed education researchers note that punitive group sanctions can increase student resentment, anxiety, and disengagement, especially for innocent bystanders.[18] Such practices also undermine trust between students and educators—even dissuading children from reporting misconduct for fear of group reprisal." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
2) Because as a teacher you're supposed to teach them the right thing to do, and collective punishment is something we don't allow ourselves in a society (e.g. Geneva convention).
Can we somehow pass #2 on to HR departments across the board. Because those fuckers have *NOT* gotten the message. Collective punishment seems to be their default mode of operation.
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Collective punishment is fine if you're choosing to be there. Search "BDSM group punishment" on pornhub.
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The next global war will be fought by drones and computers anyway. And all humans will lose.
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Laws don't punish everyone. Every person can defend himself individually and you have to prove them guilty individually.
Teacher can spot perhaps 3-7 who did it, but that is the limit of our brains. So you could perhaps punish 7 at most, but wouldn't that be unfair if there were 14 who did it?
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If one kid was doing it you could probably just send him to the office for disrupting the class, but basically everyone's doing it. I think you just wait it out, unless you want to hold the whole class in at recess as punishment, etc.
Waiting it out is just waiting for some new classroom disturbance to replace it. Any teacher not sending these kids through the discipline cycle is essentially teaching them that they can get away with behavior like this.
The Cool Teacher (Score:5, Funny)
Some teachers have attempted to neutralize the meme by saying it themselves.
Alright, put the fries in the bag, class, I'm your sub teacher, Mr. Rizzler. Y'all need to stop glazing six seven, no cap."
Re:The Cool Teacher (Score:5, Informative)
Exactly. As soon as some under-appreciated adult does it for effect, it kills the interest from the children. I employed it rather effectively on my own children, for example, I was able to eradicate "deez nuts" in under a day. Not only will you take the fun out of 6/7, but you will also kill off "no cap".
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-- Lorena Bobbitt
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chat, are we cooking today??
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Did you get that joke from TikTok? If not, I'm not buying the fries. (After all the levels of negation, I'm not sure whether or not I ordered the fries...)
However there must be some transmission primary source of the viral meme. My first guess was TikTok, but no mention in the discussion. Perhaps yet more evidence of the irrelevance of Slashdot? I knew I was an old fuddy duddy, but I didn't want to project to everyone around here.
Solution approach time? Confirm the deaths of some of the old UIDs and reissue
Obligatory Sister Mary Elephant (Score:2)
https://youtu.be/PaSSP_wxhzk?s... [youtu.be]
(Cheech and Chong, when comedy was distributed and sold as LPs)
Mod Parent UP!!! (Score:2)
There really needs to be more than a 5 point limit.
Pop culture has always been stupid (Score:2)
...and it shows no signs of improving
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All your six and seven (Score:2)
Potato chips are made from what? (Score:2, Interesting)
>>The potatoesâ(TM) journey from the soil to the shelf is the heart of Layâ(TM)s. But hereâ(TM)s the surprising part â" 42% of people who enjoy Layâ(TM)s donâ(TM)t realize theyâ(TM)re made with real, farm-grown potatoes.
https://www.pepsico.com/our-st... [pepsico.com]
This Is the Most Effective Method (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing kills a fad faster than "old" people doing it. Make it as awkward as possible.
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Is that it :o (Score:3)
Phrack Magazine [phrack.org] | Release date: 2025-08-19.
CHICKEN JOCKEY!!!!! (Score:5, Informative)
I have three young kids and I hear brain-rot all damn day.
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i'll pray for you
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Back in my day, we called it, "being random".
I'm sure it was true back in your day, too. What goes around comes around.
Really? (Score:3)
Is it April 1? Or is this another manufactured moral panic?
If you don't like childish nonsense (Score:2)
Then maybe don't become a teacher.
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Then maybe don't become a teacher.
Or run for House / Senate. /s
Does it mean a street, or...? (Score:2)
Check out the Language Jones analysis, if you like language and big words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laZpTO7IFtA&pp=ygUObGFuZ3VhZ2Ugam9uZXM%3D
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Once today's kids run out of fingers... (Score:2)
Don't tell them there are five more fingers on the other hand.
Okay, I get 7. (Score:2)
Seven has always been a troublemaker, starting when it ate nine.
nothing new (Score:2)
Kids are stupid and Skrilla is a shitty, no talent rapper. The brain rots just gets worse.
Poor education (Score:2)
How bad of a teacher do you have to be that kids having a bit of fun in Math class, over nothing and with no effort on your part, is an existential crisis? I would be trying to sneak a 67 answer on every damn quiz until the fad dies off (as it must.)
So, this has left math teachers... (Score:2)
At sizes and sevens, huh?
Re: So, this has left math teachers... (Score:2)
I meant "at sixes and sevens". /Damn you autocorrect
There you go. It's already happening. (Score:2)
Our children, and our children's children, are going to be worse off, not better off, than we had it. I can feel the dumb sweeping the nation and it's already obvious in business and STEM employment that the pool of new talent simply isn't there. They can't even handle the sh*t jobs so that they can work their way up to a real job. And they're not even the least bit concerned about it. Cory Doctorow coined the phrase "enshitification". How about a new phrase, "enshitadolescence"?
This discussion... wow (Score:2)
I don't know that I've ever seen such an obvious demonstration of just how many old geezers are on Slashdot.
(and I say that as a fellow old person haha)
I take it this has nothing to do with (Score:2)
Patrick McGoohan and Jeri Ryan
Simple solution (Score:2)
We need more computer literacy in our schools. Switch to binary math.
"What are these strange 'six' and 'seven' numbers of which you speak?"
Philly (Score:2)
No need to worry: this phenomenon is confined to Philly.
I am not making that part up.
I mean... you can't possibly believe this is true? (Score:2)
You can't, right? There's no primary sources in the slashdot post. There's no primary sources in the article. This is made up bullshit.
Langendorf bread (Score:2)
When I was a kid, we too had stupid things. Besides elephant jokes (how many elephants can you fit in a VW Beetle? Five -- two in the front, two in the back, and one in the glove box), the dumbest joke I remember was to run up to a friend fast and breathless and demand "Guess what!" as if you'd seen a UFO or fire engine run by, then shout "Langendorf bread, that's what!" and run away cackling like Kamala Harris.
Since the 1300's these numbers have meant problems (Score:2)
While I have several times said, "I'm at sixes and sevens with myself today" which dates back to 1877.
South Park just made fun of this! (Score:2)
Oy!
Your ignorance of special education is profound (Score:4, Interesting)
> If we tried some nonsense like this in my day, we would certainly be thrown out of the classroom. The poor little snowflakes must never be sanctioned. They've even invented a term for it. It's called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Yet another BS diagnosis thought up by the lunatics over there at the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980.
First of all, FUCK YOU. But to the bystanders. No, this dumbass is whining about ODD...which is fucking real. I have a good friend who's kid has it. The kid has everything going for him...perfect family, middle class, Jewish, good community involvement, very involved parents, model student older brother and model student younger sister...no sign of genetic issue, but the fucking kid is a terrorist. He is really beyond anything you've seen and he can't help himself. Modern discipline doesn't work, old-fashioned corporal punishment doesn't.
5 years later, the kid is normal, the diagnosis doesn't hold anymore. No one is sure why, but that DSM disorder allowed them to get him treatment, therapy, and placement into an appropriate school program...and special ed costs a lot more than general ed, so districts want a diagnosis before they drastically increase their spend. These diagnosis are not a permanent label but do help because there are sometimes kids that just really really really need help and don't neatly fit into the precise categories available.
Technically most psychiatric conditions are based on a degree of subjective analysis. However, if the kid is a candidate for an ODD diagnosis, do you want him disrupting your kids' class? Do you want him hitting kids at recess at random? The fucking kid is EXHAUSTING and I'm used to special needs kids. I couldn't handle him for more than 15 min. He doesn't even want to be bad...he fucking can't help himself...something is off in his wiring. He was placed into a special program for kids like him until his behavior improved to the point where he could join a regular special ed classroom and is now in the general ed program with sped pull outs.
You're seeing a diagnosis you clearly don't understand and are objecting?...why?....let me guess...is this an old man rant about how kids are nothing like they used to be? FUCK YOU....any kid with ODD is the opposite of a snowflake...they're a fucking menace to themselves and others and need help. This is not a pity diagnosis. I feel bad for any parent that has a kid with it or that could even be confused as having it....it'll fucking shave decades off your life dealing with that.
You clearly know nothing about special education....so find something else to rant about. Fucking rant about liberals or feminists or something with the other assholes...leave special needs families alone.
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I saw the same thing when I was in elementary school. There were two brothers about the same age, born to the same biological parents, and grew up in the same household. One was the nicest guy you ever met, the other was a holy terror.
I felt bad for the parents, because 40 years ago, unruly kids were assumed to be the result of horrible parenting. Even to me, barely a teenager, it was clear there was something seriously wrong with that kid. Too bad I never found out what happened to him.
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Not invented. But overused as a (self?) diagnosis.
"You can't discipline me (or my kid) because they suffer from ODD. Confrontation and/or punishment won't work. So just let them do as they want."
The best cure for this faux ODD? Show them what the actual treatment looks like. And suggest that you'll be more than happy to put them in the program.
a diagnosis is not a hall pass to be an asshole (Score:2)
Not invented. But overused as a (self?) diagnosis.
"You can't discipline me (or my kid) because they suffer from ODD. Confrontation and/or punishment won't work. So just let them do as they want."
I call BS on your story. No parent with ODD wants to let their kid do whatever they want. They want their shit monster under control! Every special needs parent wants their kid to be functional. You're right that most punishments don't work, but I guarantee the parent is even more frustrated than you...they wish you could just spank the misbehaving out of them...but it doesn't work...don't think I haven't tried!!!
Also...WTAF...yes, you can discipline a kid for having ODD. It's not an excuse in my sta
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No parent with ODD wants to let their kid do whatever they want. They want their shit monster under control!
I didn't say "kids with ODD". I said, "asshole kid with a Karen mom that will pull some found on the Internet diagnosis as an argument to leave their kid alone." And believe me, there are parents that just don't give a damn what their kids do AT SCHOOL. Just take care of it and don't bother them with it.
When I went to school, many decades ago, our district had a pretty good special needs program. But it was off campus. So kids that needed it got onto the (short) bus and taken to a different facility. Any p
Damore got himself fired for embarassing his CEO (Score:2)
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When I was in school, a long time ago... we had classrooms where you had to sit on the floor! no desks. We did get desks by the NEXT school year.
The whole 4 years I was there we had science books from the moon landing; which were repaired from wear. Was my district poor? NO! We were one of the top ones in the state. So where did the money go? A new football field (turf) with a sculpture and two new gyms, weight room, all new uniforms and gear and a new parking lot. Oh, and a state of the art security sy