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Across the UK, students have been exclaiming the expression ““67” during lessons in the latest viral phenomenon to sweep across classrooms.

Although some teachers have opted to stoically ignore the craze, different educators have incorporated it. Five teachers describe how they’re dealing.

‘I believed I’d made an inappropriate comment’

During September, I had been addressing my year 11 tutor group about preparing for their GCSE exams in June. I don’t recall exactly what it was in reference to, but I said a phrase resembling “ … if you’re aiming for results six, seven …” and the whole class burst out laughing. It caught me completely by surprise.

My initial reaction was that I’d made an allusion to an offensive subject, or that they perceived an element of my accent that seemed humorous. Slightly frustrated – but honestly intrigued and conscious that they had no intention of being hurtful – I asked them to clarify. Frankly speaking, the clarification they offered didn’t provide greater understanding – I still had little comprehension.

What possibly made it extra funny was the weighing-up movement I had made while speaking. Subsequently I discovered that this often accompanies ““sixseven”: I meant it to help convey the process of me thinking aloud.

To kill it off I try to reference it as often as I can. No approach reduces a craze like this more thoroughly than an teacher trying to get involved.

‘Feeding the trend creates a blaze’

Understanding it helps so that you can avoid just accidentally making comments like “for example, there existed 6, 7 million people without work in Germany in 1933”. If the numerical sequence is unpreventable, maintaining a rock-solid student discipline system and standards on student conduct is advantageous, as you can address it as you would any other disturbance, but I’ve not really been required to take that action. Rules are one thing, but if learners buy into what the educational institution is practicing, they will remain more focused by the internet crazes (especially in lesson time).

With sixseven, I haven’t lost any lesson time, aside from an occasional quizzical look and stating ““indeed, those are numerals, excellent”. Should you offer focus on it, then it becomes a wildfire. I handle it in the identical manner I would manage any different disturbance.

There was the nine plus ten equals twenty-one craze a few years ago, and undoubtedly there will emerge a different trend following this. It’s what kids do. When I was growing up, it was performing Kevin and Perry impressions (admittedly away from the classroom).

Young people are unforeseeable, and I think it falls to the teacher to respond in a manner that steers them back to the direction that will get them where they need to go, which, hopefully, is graduating with academic achievements as opposed to a disciplinary record a mile long for the use of random numbers.

‘Students desire belonging to a community’

Young learners utilize it like a bonding chant in the schoolyard: a student calls it and the others respond to indicate they’re part of the equivalent circle. It’s similar to a verbal exchange or a football chant – an common expression they share. I believe it has any distinct importance to them; they simply understand it’s a thing to say. Regardless of what the current trend is, they seek to feel part of it.

It’s prohibited in my classroom, however – it’s a warning if they call it out – just like any additional calling out is. It’s notably tricky in maths lessons. But my students at fifth grade are children aged nine to ten, so they’re relatively accepting of the regulations, while I understand that at high school it may be a separate situation.

I have worked as a educator for fifteen years, and such trends persist for three or four weeks. This craze will diminish in the near future – this consistently happens, notably once their little brothers and sisters start saying it and it ceases to be cool. Subsequently they will be focused on the subsequent trend.

‘Occasionally sharing the humor is essential’

I began observing it in August, while teaching English at a foreign language school. It was mainly boys saying it. I taught students from twelve to eighteen and it was prevalent within the younger pupils. I had no idea what it was at the time, but I’m 24 years old and I understood it was just a meme similar to when I was at school.

These trends are continuously evolving. ““Toilet meme” was a familiar phenomenon during the period when I was at my educational institute, but it didn’t really exist as much in the learning environment. Differing from “six-seven”, ““the skibidi trend” was not scribbled on the chalkboard in instruction, so students were less equipped to adopt it.

I simply disregard it, or occasionally I will smile with the students if I unintentionally utter it, trying to empathise with them and understand that it’s simply contemporary trends. I believe they merely seek to enjoy that sensation of togetherness and companionship.

‘Humorous repetition has reduced its frequency’

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