Across schools in countries like the United States, Australia, and beyond, one phrase is suddenly echoing through classrooms, with students shouting out “six-seven!”
The phrase, pronounced as “six-SEV-eeeen!” is apparently the latest joke being used by many school students, but its origins come from a TikTok trend. These numbers are not part of any lesson, have no official meaning, and yet students are yelling them whenever the numbers six or seven are mentioned.
This has gotten to such a point where some teachers, having become increasingly frustrated, are even banning the phrase outright, disciplining students for using it, or even incorporating it into their lesson plans just to regain control.
What Is The 6-7 Trend?
The chant “6-7” (also styled as “67”, “six seven”, or “6-7!”) has been noticed on social media for a while now, with many using it in comments, viral posts, and it has even spread into offline spaces, particularly schools.
Students, the youngest generation seems to have really taken to it, and shouting out the phrase whenever their teacher, or anyone, uses either of the numbers, 6 or 7.
The origins of this chant come from a drill-rap song by Skrilla called Doot Doot (6 7), released in late 2024, which features the repeated lyric “6-7”. According to reports, the song gained further popularity after TikTok users incorporated it into video edits featuring 24-year-old NBA player LaMelo Ball, who stands at 6 feet 7 inches tall.
Ball even brought up the trend during an interview with ESPN, claiming that kids would often shout “six, seven” at him.
Social media content creator Cam Wilder added to the trend when the clip of a boy saying “six, seven” into the camera went viral, making him central to the meme and being used in various TikTok edits.
Various other viral instances only added to the phrase becoming a viral craze and the nomenclature used by people online to either join in the trend, comment on it, or mock it.
Now, students have taken to using the phrase, yelling it out during lessons, lunchtime countdown, or even randomly, for no good reason. The joke of this, though, seems to lie in the fact that there is no real meaning to the term.
The absence of clear meaning and the kids basically using the mentality of “we’re just saying it because we can” is part of the humour and social bonding.
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Gabe Dannenbring, a seventh-grade science teacher in Sioux Falls, South Dakota speaking about this trend to CNN, said, “It’s like a plague — a virus that has taken over these kids’ minds,” adding, “You can’t say any iteration of the numbers 6 or 7 without having at least 15 kids yell, ‘6-7!’”
New Jersey fourth-grade teacher Monica Choflet was quoted by The Independent as saying, “I could say, ‘It’s 1:16 pm, time for class, and someone says, ‘67!’”
Gail Fairhurst, a University of Cincinnati professor who teaches leadership communication (and Gen Alpha speak), was also quoted by CNN, saying, “Language is a way for people to form community.”
“Even if it’s a nonsense term, if they seem to know what it means, that can be a unifying force. And if somebody isn’t understanding the term, it can exclude people from that community, as well.”
Linguist Taylor Jones also told CNN that this phrase is “a joke without a punchline,” and it is the meaninglessness that brings fun for the children. Jones further said that it functions like a “shibboleth,” a phrase marking who is part of the in-group of kids who ‘get it.’
Jennifer Wills Lamacq, a child psychologist, speaking with The Times, also said something similar.
Lamacq said, “The bottom line is that ‘six seven’ is a massive in-joke and in-jokes exist because they foster a lovely feeling of human connection. As children get older, groups become very important, and what feels urgent to them is keeping adults out of their in-group. An essential part of teen development is to separate from the adults in their lives.”
“Six seven is ideal because it is totally meaningless. It can’t be explained — you either know or you don’t, you’re in or you’re out.”
However, it has reached a point where teachers and school administrators are feeling the disruptive effects of the trend and becoming fed up with its viralness.
Apparently, Dannenbring has heard it a record 75 times in a single school day. The solution found by the teacher is to use it themselves, like when asking students to open their textbooks to page 67, he will use the phrase.
This leads to the students protesting their seemingly ‘old’ teacher, using a phrase meant only for the so-called young generation. According to Dannenbring, “If you don’t play into it, yeah, it’s super disruptive. If you acknowledge it, then it gets over with in about 15 seconds.”
Jones seconded this, saying, “The easiest way to kill it is for teachers to say that it’s cool.”
Some teachers are taking a stricter route, banning and prohibiting the phrase in class, assigning punishments or disciplinary actions like writing “I will not say ‘6-7’ in class” a set number of times, or writing a 67-word essay on what “6-7” means.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Indian Express, CNN, Washington Post
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This post is tagged under: school, school students, school students trend, students 6-7 trend, TikTok trend, South Park parody, Gen Alpha internet trend, viral meme, South Park Elementary, ESPN, YouTube, Gen Z, 6-7, 6-7 tiktok trend, 6-7 meme, 6-7 slang, 6-7 meaning, 6-7 meaning gen z, six seven brainrot
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