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Across the UK, school pupils have been shouting out the words “sixseven” during classes in the most recent viral phenomenon to spread through schools.

Whereas some instructors have chosen to patiently overlook the trend, others have incorporated it. Five educators share how they’re dealing.

‘I thought I had said something rude’

During September, I had been speaking with my year 11 tutor group about preparing for their qualification tests in June. It escapes me specifically what it was in relation to, but I said something like “ … if you’re targeting marks six, seven …” and the complete classroom started chuckling. It caught me completely by surprise.

My immediate assumption was that I had created an allusion to an offensive subject, or that they perceived an element of my speech pattern that seemed humorous. A bit frustrated – but truly interested and aware that they weren’t malicious – I got them to elaborate. Frankly speaking, the description they then gave didn’t make greater understanding – I continued to have minimal understanding.

What possibly rendered it especially amusing was the considering motion I had made while speaking. I later found out that this frequently goes with “six-seven”: I meant it to assist in expressing the process of me verbalizing thoughts.

To eliminate it I aim to mention it as often as I can. Nothing deflates a trend like this more effectively than an grown-up trying to participate.

‘Providing attention fuels the fire’

Understanding it helps so that you can avoid just blundering into remarks like “for example, there existed 6, 7 million jobless individuals in Germany in 1933”. If the digit pairing is unavoidable, having a rock-solid school behaviour policy and standards on student conduct really helps, as you can address it as you would any different interruption, but I rarely been required to take that action. Guidelines are one thing, but if students embrace what the learning environment is doing, they will become better concentrated by the viral phenomena (especially in instructional hours).

Concerning sixseven, I haven’t lost any teaching periods, except for an infrequent raised eyebrow and stating ““correct, those are digits, good job”. Should you offer oxygen to it, it transforms into an inferno. I address it in the equivalent fashion I would handle any additional disturbance.

There was the nine plus ten equals twenty-one trend a few years ago, and undoubtedly there will emerge a different trend after this. This is typical youth activity. When I was youth, it was performing comedy characters impressions (admittedly outside the classroom).

Young people are unpredictable, and I believe it’s the educator’s responsibility to behave in a way that guides them toward the path that will get them to their educational goals, which, fingers crossed, is coming out with academic achievements as opposed to a behaviour list a mile long for the use of arbitrary digits.

‘Children seek inclusion in social circles’

Young learners employ it like a connecting expression in the recreation area: a pupil shouts it and the remaining students reply to show they are the equivalent circle. It’s similar to a call-and-response or a football chant – an common expression they share. I believe it has any distinct significance to them; they just know it’s a thing to say. Whatever the current trend is, they desire to feel part of it.

It’s prohibited in my classroom, however – it’s a warning if they call it out – similar to any other shouting out is. It’s particularly difficult in mathematics classes. But my class at year 5 are children aged nine to ten, so they’re quite compliant with the rules, while I appreciate that at high school it could be a different matter.

I have served as a instructor for a decade and a half, and these phenomena last for a few weeks. This craze will diminish shortly – this consistently happens, particularly once their younger siblings commence repeating it and it ceases to be cool. Then they’ll be engaged with the following phenomenon.

‘You just have to laugh with them’

I began observing it in August, while instructing in English at a language institute. It was primarily male students saying it. I taught ages 12 to 18 and it was common within the junior students. I didn’t understand its significance at the time, but as a young adult and I realised it was simply an internet trend akin to when I was a student.

These trends are continuously evolving. ““Skibidi” was a familiar phenomenon back when I was at my training school, but it failed to exist as much in the educational setting. Unlike ““sixseven”, ““the skibidi trend” was never written on the whiteboard in class, so learners were less equipped to embrace it.

I just ignore it, or periodically I will smile with the students if I accidentally say it, striving to relate to them and appreciate that it’s simply contemporary trends. I believe they merely seek to experience that feeling of belonging and companionship.

‘Lighthearted usage has diminished its occurrence’

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