For teachers, the numbers six and seven have suddenly taken on a new—and dreaded—significance this school year.
From French class to gym class, students are frequently saying (or shouting) “six-seven” followed by a gesture of both hands moving up and down.
Is it a new slang term? Nope. Students are using it to respond anytime the numbers six, seven, or both are mentioned, but it has no real meaning. It became a trend through social media after the numbers were included in a song by the rap artist Skrilla in 2024. The hashtag “67” has 2 million posts on TikTok, according to the app’s analytics. It’s also been named the 2025 Word of the Year by Dictionary.com.
While the trend originated about six months ago, it has gained momentum in the new school year and is starting to disrupt instructional time, teachers say.
“If you’re trying to teach a class and kids are shouting out a number for no reason, they’re not paying attention—they’re just looking for an opportunity to be funny,” said Danielle Kopp, a high school english teacher in New Jersey.
The ‘six-seven’ trend resonates more with younger students
April Anderson, a French teacher for students in grades 7-12 at Grand Rapids Public School in Grand Rapids, Mich., said it’s mostly her 7th and 8th graders who have been participating in the trend.
She thinks this behavior could stem from the pandemic, when kids were more isolated instead of experiencing being in a classroom setting. “I don’t know if it’s this idea of just now something in common to bond them together,” she said.
Kopp hasn’t noticed the high schoolers at her school saying “six-seven” often. Instead, they laugh at it.
Kopp was teaching a high school class, and mentioned the numbers six and seven, and her students looked up at her. She caught herself and motioned her hands up and down. “They just laughed, and we moved on,” Kopp said.
She believes it’s reflective of maturity levels: “We don’t have an issue with it at the high school, the way that it seems to be an issue at elementary and middle school.”
For teachers, these trends start from seemingly nowhere and spread like wildfire, said Kopp.
“I’d rather see a group of girls dancing to a song at lunch versus interrupting a class or ruining a Chromebook,” she said. “Some of the trends are silly and they’re not a big deal, and other ones can really become an issue.”
Educators have tried various tactics to get students to stop
While most teachers agree that the trend can be disruptive, educators have tried a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach to get students to stop.
Anderson said her students have called out “six-seven” in both English and French during class. “It was slightly annoying,” she said.
Anderson saw that another French teacher shared her frustrations on the American Association of Teachers of French Facebook group. That same teacher posted that they assigned a worksheet of math problems—under the guise of practicing French numbers—where all the answers were 67 to 76 to see how students would react. Other teachers have done this exercise—mostly in math class—and shared students’ reactions on social media.
Anderson followed suit. Her students quickly realized that all the answers were the same. Anderson told her class, “So, you mean six or seven?” and they all burst out laughing, she said.
“I haven’t heard them say it since,” said Anderson. “As soon as I showed the buy-in to it, it was not cool anymore.”
Joseph, an elementary gym teacher from New Jersey who asked not to use his last name, said during the PACER test—where students run 20 meters back and forth across the gym, each time at a shorter interval—they have been attempting to reach 67, when normally they stop at around lap 60 at most.
The student fell to the ground from being tired. He pushed himself more than he normally would have because other students were shouting for him to get to 67, said Joseph. The number also comes up when Joseph is doing an exercise with the class, and he asks students to count to 6 or 7 seconds.
“It becomes distracting and they start laughing and talking about it,” said Joseph.
Other teachers at his school have been finding it to be disruptive, too. Two weeks ago, in an all-staff and student meeting, the principal banned the use of the phrase “six-seven” during instructional time, but continued to allow it during recess or lunchtime.
“It’s not a strict ban,” the gym teacher said. “If it becomes a problem again, then we’ll have to talk about it again, [but] there weren’t really any clear consequences.”
Since the meeting, though, he hasn’t heard students say “six-seven” much.
