\n<\/p>\n
Across the UK, school pupils have been shouting out the words \u201csixseven\u201d during lessons in the latest meme-based craze to sweep across classrooms.<\/p>\n
While some teachers have chosen to stoically ignore the trend, others have embraced it. Five teachers explain how they\u2019re coping.<\/p>\n
Back in September, I had been talking to my year 11 tutor group about preparing for their GCSE exams in June. I can\u2019t remember exactly what it was in reference to, but I said something like \u201c \u2026 if you\u2019re working to grades six, seven \u2026\u201d and the whole class burst out laughing. It took me completely by surprise.<\/p>\n
My first thought was that I\u2019d made an allusion to something rude, or that they\u2019d heard something in my accent that sounded funny. A bit exasperated \u2013 but genuinely curious and aware that they weren\u2019t intending to be mean \u2013 I got them to explain. To be honest, the explanation they then gave didn\u2019t make much difference \u2013 I still had no idea.<\/p>\n
What might have made it extra funny was the weighing-up gesture I had made while speaking. I have since found out that this often accompanies \u201csix-seven\u201d: I had intended it to help convey the act of me thinking aloud.<\/p>\n
In order to kill it off I try to mention it as much as I can. Nothing deflates a craze like this more emphatically than an adult trying to join in. James, secondary school teacher, north London<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Being aware of it helps so that you can avoid just blundering into statements like \u201cwell, there were 6, 7 million unemployed people in Germany in 1933\u201d. If the number combination is unavoidable, having a rock-solid school behaviour policy and expectations on student conduct really helps, as you can sanction it as you would any other disruption, but I\u2019ve not really had to do that. Policies are one thing, but if students buy into what the school is doing, they\u2019ll be less distracted by the internet crazes (at least in lesson time).<\/p>\n With six-seven, I haven\u2019t lost any lesson time, other than for an occasional eyebrow raise and saying \u201cyes, that\u2019s a number, well done\u201d. If you give oxygen to it, then it becomes an inferno. I treat it in the same way I would treat any other disruption.<\/p>\n There was the 9 + 10 = 21 craze a while back, and there will no doubt be another craze after this. It\u2019s what kids do. When I was growing up, it was doing Kevin and Perry impressions (admittedly out of the classroom).<\/p>\n Children are unpredictable, and I think it\u2019s an adult\u2019s job to react in a way that redirects them back to the path that will get them where they need to go, which, fingers crossed, is coming out with qualifications rather than a behaviour list a mile long for the use of random numbers. Connor, 39, history teacher, London comprehensive<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The children use it like a bonding chant in the playground: one says it and the others respond to show they are in the same group. It\u2019s like a call-and-response or a football chant \u2013 an agreed language they share. I don\u2019t think it has any particular meaning to them; they just know it\u2019s a thing to say. Whatever the latest craze is, they want to feel part of it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s banned in my classroom, though \u2013 it\u2019s a warning if they shout it out \u2013 just like any other shouting out is. It\u2019s particularly tricky in maths lessons. But my class at year 5 are nine to 10-year-olds, so they\u2019re quite accepting of the rules, whereas I understand that at secondary [school] it may be a different matter.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a teacher for 15 years, and these crazes last for three or four weeks. This craze will die out soon \u2013 they always do, especially once their younger siblings start saying it and it\u2019s no longer cool. Then they\u2019ll be on to the next thing. Jane, early 50s, primary school teacher, north-west England<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I started noticing it in August, while teaching English at a foreign language school. It was mostly boys saying it. I taught ages 12 to 18, and it was prevalent among the younger pupils. I had no idea what it was at the time, but I\u2019m 24 years old and I realised it was just a meme similar to when I was at school.<\/p>\n The crazes are constantly changing. \u201cSkibidi toilet\u201d was a popular meme back when I was at my training school, but it didn\u2019t really exist as much in the classroom. Unlike \u201csix-seven\u201d, \u201cskibidi toilet\u201d was never written on the board in class, so students were less able to pick up on it.<\/p>\n I just ignore it, or sometimes I will laugh with them if I accidentally say it, trying to empathise with them and understand that it is just pop culture. I think they just want to feel that sense of community and camaraderie. Harriet, 24, English teacher at a foreign language school, southern England<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ve done the job for 30 years and I\u2019ve seen crazes come in and out of fashion, it\u2019s just one of those things.<\/p>\n The first time I heard when I came back after the summer break, I said, \u201cthat\u2019s exactly how many examples you need for the reading paper examples; well done!\u201d That, combined with me playfully shouting it at the students (including hand signals) means I rarely hear it now.<\/p>\n The students roll their eyes in an amused way, and you can tell by their faces they are thinking \u201cfor god\u2019s sake\u201d. Seeing a teacher old enough to be their grandfather [saying it] has put them off, as it puts the cringe factor up to 11. Paul, 54, secondary school teacher, Cheshire<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This meme-ification of a brain-rotty statement isn\u2019t anything new. \u201cSigma\u201d, \u201cskibidi\u201d, \u201ccooked\u201d are all examples of an increasingly globalised repertoire of slang words. The most striking thing for me with regard to \u201csix-seven\u201d is how widespread and globally recognised it is, at least in the anglophone world. At the risk of sounding already teacher-ish, I will say that back in my day, schools had their own local, homegrown slang.<\/p>\n The children all end up seeing the same videos on social media, and with the ease of sending them to each other, they blow up \u2013 and fast. I think children today are far more globally connected with trends and popular culture. With the advent of short form video, children are able to whiz through far more information, and access far more meme-able popular culture, than before. Combine that with the vastly popular culture exports of the US, and you end up with a \u201csix-seven\u201d around every corner. George, 26, trainee history teacher, London<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Across the UK, school pupils have been shouting out the words \u201csixseven\u201d during lessons in the latest meme-based craze to sweep across classrooms. While some teachers have chosen to stoically ignore the trend, others have embraced it. Five teachers explain how they\u2019re coping. \u2018I thought I had said something rude\u2019 Back in September, I had<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[439,4713,4428,17712,436,4745],"class_list":{"0":"post-30480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-classroom","9":"tag-dealing","10":"tag-laugh","11":"tag-sixseven","12":"tag-teachers","13":"tag-teaching"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018If you give oxygen to it, then it becomes an inferno\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018They want to feel a part of a group\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018You just have to laugh with them\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Part of an increasingly globalised repertoire of slang word<\/strong>s\u2019<\/h2>\n