The Numbers Six and Seven Are Making Life Hell for Math Teachers (msn.com)
- Reference: 0179799276
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/10/15/1340240/the-numbers-six-and-seven-are-making-life-hell-for-math-teachers
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/education-and-learning/general/the-numbers-six-and-seven-are-making-life-hell-for-math-teachers/ar-AA1Op0rp
Teachers have begun avoiding breaking students into groups of six or seven or asking them to turn to page 67. The meme has no meaning, reports WSJ. That absence of meaning is the point. The phenomenon traces back to late last year when Philadelphia rapper Skrilla released "Doot Doot (6 7)," a song referencing 67th street where his friends grew up. The phrase spiraled into youth culture in March through a viral video of a boy with forward-swept hair lurching toward a camera to deliver an animated "six seven." Skrilla is now touring venues where audiences wait for the six-seven line. Some teachers have attempted to neutralize the meme by saying it themselves.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/education-and-learning/general/the-numbers-six-and-seven-are-making-life-hell-for-math-teachers/ar-AA1Op0rp
Why is 66 afraid of 67? (Score:5, Funny)
Because 67 68 69.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would 66 be afraid of two other numbers 69ing?
Is this a special needs thing? (Score:2)
Some guy, not sure who he is, said 6 7, and now when kids hear it they're hand flapping, and yelling it? What has happened to education / children, that you now can't even say a number sequence? If the kids are going full on R mode, at the mention of 6 7, then something need to be done from a maturity standpoint. Is this a joke?
69 used to be a thing, or maybe still is, but at best you'd get some laughter, not full on mental breakdown.
Re: (Score:3)
Nothing has changed. We grew up saying "as if,” "eat my shorts," "whuzzzzuuupppp," and more. Not because they meant anything profound but because kids like to repeat things. Our source material was TV commercials, movies, and cartoons because that's what we had. But I've no doubt if we had "doot doot" on the early internet we'd all still be going "67" in the same way some of us still go "all your base are belong to us" or "yattaaaaa"
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, we did that, but disrupting class to the point teachers had to modify lesson plans? I don't ever remember anyone causing a serious disruption in the 90s / early 2000's to the level point being discussed on this topic.
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Absolutely teachers would make sure to avoid trigger words in the early 2000s (source, my ex wife was a teacher then).
You probably were unaware of it because you were a student.
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Fair, but, they used numbers like 6 and 9, and the room was fine, so maybe I was unaware, but I don't remember it happening.
Really? (Score:4, Informative)
I heard about this from my kids. They're annoyed at it too, but it's just a dumb meme, kind of like the Minecraft "chicken jockey" meme. If one kid was doing it you could probably just send him to the office for disrupting the class, but basically everyone's doing it. I think you just wait it out, unless you want to hold the whole class in at recess as punishment, etc.
Re: (Score:2)
Why not punish everyone? Isn't that what most laws are? One person does something bad and everyone loses rights, aka team punishment? I remember in school one kid pissed all over the bathroom wall. Even tho they knew who did it, everyone had a strict set of rules imposed, after basically no rules. All the kids were mean to that one kid after that. Then a year or two later, one kid repeated kicked him while the teacher stepped out for a second to what looked like an inch of his life. Never saw him again, but
Re: (Score:2)
> Why not punish everyone?
1) Evidence-based education. "Trauma-informed education researchers note that punitive group sanctions can increase student resentment, anxiety, and disengagement, especially for innocent bystanders.[18] Such practices also undermine trust between students and educators—even dissuading children from reporting misconduct for fear of group reprisal." [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
2) Because as a teacher you're supposed to teach them the right thing to do, and collective punishment is something we don
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_punishment
Re: (Score:2)
>> Why not punish everyone?
> 1) Evidence-based education. "Trauma-informed education researchers note that punitive group sanctions can increase student resentment, anxiety, and disengagement, especially for innocent bystanders.[18] Such practices also undermine trust between students and educators—even dissuading children from reporting misconduct for fear of group reprisal." [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
> 2) Because as a teacher you're supposed to teach them the right thing to do, and collective punishment is something we don't allow ourselves in a society (e.g. Geneva convention).
Can we somehow pass #2 on to HR departments across the board. Because those fuckers have *NOT* gotten the message. Collective punishment seems to be their default mode of operation.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_punishment
Re: (Score:2)
Collective punishment is fine if you're choosing to be there. Search "BDSM group punishment" on pornhub.
Re: (Score:2)
It's called 'throwing the book at' or 'making an example of'. There was one kid I remember in preschool, and he swore like a sailor. I remember the teacher sitting down in front of our class holding this kid's arm so he couldn't squirm away, took out a bar of soap, and literally went to wash this kid's mouth out with soap. She did this while calmly explaining to the rest of the class why she had to do this. I don't know if that kid ever stopped swearing (he sure was swearing a lot at her when she was do
Re: (Score:1)
That teacher would be put in prison today and rightfully so, as that is straight up child abuse.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not condoning it. But it made an impression. Also, I'm pretty sure if you went anywhere else in the world, you'd be shocked at the discipline they use to raise their kids. And let's face it... our kids are soon going to be in a hot war with those kids, so we'll see how it goes.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not worried. Victims of violence at the hands of their parents often turn that violence back on their parents when they get big enough.
The next global war will be fought by drones and computers anyway. And all humans will lose.
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Laws don't punish everyone. Every person can defend himself individually and you have to prove them guilty individually.
Teacher can spot perhaps 3-7 who did it, but that is the limit of our brains. So you could perhaps punish 7 at most, but wouldn't that be unfair if there were 14 who did it?
Re: (Score:3)
> If one kid was doing it you could probably just send him to the office for disrupting the class, but basically everyone's doing it. I think you just wait it out, unless you want to hold the whole class in at recess as punishment, etc.
Waiting it out is just waiting for some new classroom disturbance to replace it. Any teacher not sending these kids through the discipline cycle is essentially teaching them that they can get away with behavior like this.
The Cool Teacher (Score:5, Funny)
> Some teachers have attempted to neutralize the meme by saying it themselves.
Alright, put the fries in the bag, class, I'm your sub teacher, Mr. Rizzler. Y'all need to stop glazing six seven, no cap."
Re:The Cool Teacher (Score:4, Informative)
Exactly. As soon as some under-appreciated adult does it for effect, it kills the interest from the children. I employed it rather effectively on my own children, for example, I was able to eradicate "deez nuts" in under a day. Not only will you take the fun out of 6/7, but you will also kill off "no cap".
Re: (Score:2)
An oldie but goodie
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chat, are we cooking today??
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Did you get that joke from TikTok? If not, I'm not buying the fries. (After all the levels of negation, I'm not sure whether or not I ordered the fries...)
However there must be some transmission primary source of the viral meme. My first guess was TikTok, but no mention in the discussion. Perhaps yet more evidence of the irrelevance of Slashdot? I knew I was an old fuddy duddy, but I didn't want to project to everyone around here.
Solution approach time? Confirm the deaths of some of the old UIDs and reissue
Obligatory Sister Mary Elephant (Score:2)
[1]https://youtu.be/PaSSP_wxhzk?s... [youtu.be]
(Cheech and Chong, when comedy was distributed and sold as LPs)
[1] https://youtu.be/PaSSP_wxhzk?si=orgvgNavjemK0JfU&t=7
Mod Parent UP!!! (Score:2)
There really needs to be more than a 5 point limit.
Pop culture has always been stupid (Score:2)
...and it shows no signs of improving
Re: (Score:1)
Well, I went to school in the 80s, and I don't recall the entire class having a shit fit every time someone said Jump or Beat it.
Modern pop culture seems considerably more trash than it used to be, mainly thanks to a protest and empowerment movement born in the 70s that has fallen on hard times and now when it's needed most, spends most of its time passed out on the men's room floors in seedy clubs.
Re: (Score:2)
At least in my school in the 80s we had this thing called discipline. Or more to the point, enough respect (fear?) to not do this sort of shit in class.
All your six and seven (Score:2)
Are belong to us!
Potato chips are made from what? (Score:2, Interesting)
> The potatoesâ(TM) journey from the soil to the shelf is the heart of Layâ(TM)s. But hereâ(TM)s the surprising part â" 42% of people who enjoy Layâ(TM)s donâ(TM)t realize theyâ(TM)re made with real, farm-grown potatoes.
[1]https://www.pepsico.com/our-st... [pepsico.com]
[1] https://www.pepsico.com/our-stories/story/from-potato-to-chip-the-next-chapter-of-lays
This Is the Most Effective Method (Score:4, Funny)
> Some teachers have attempted to neutralize the meme by saying it themselves.
Nothing kills a fad faster than "old" people doing it. Make it as awkward as possible.
Re: (Score:3)
Good point. I'm pretty sure that if parents started insisting their kids call their mother "Dad" and their father "Mom" for two months and then switched back, the kids would have grow out of the pronoun craze a lot faster than they already did.
Re: Pronoun culture battle (Score:1)
Overhaul English to not require gender'd pronouns; problem solved! Auto-tagging people's gender in everyday speech is obsolete, it serves no purpose other than making religious troglodytes happy, the same fools who tried to jail Elvis for dancing sexy. F 'em! They can move to Afghanistan if they still crave Gonad Cops.
Re: (Score:1)
These chimpokomon are pretty cool, right?
I got shoe.
Is that it :o (Score:3)
Is that it, is that the best you can find for an article on Slashdot - *the* Slashdot ?
[1]Phrack Magazine [phrack.org] | Release date: 2025-08-19.
[1] https://phrack.org/
Re: (Score:1)
> Is that it, is that the best you can find for an article on Slashdot - *the* Slashdot ?
Slashdot is now owned by Nazi-harboring cryptocucks. Don't be surprised the stories are crap.
CHICKEN JOCKEY!!!!! (Score:4, Informative)
I have three young kids and I hear brain-rot all damn day.
Re: (Score:2)
i'll pray for you
Re: (Score:1)
^this.
every day it is "tung tung sahur" in our house
hold tight, stay strong. fads will pass.
Really? (Score:2)
Is it April 1? Or is this another manufactured moral panic?
If you don't like childish nonsense (Score:2)
Then maybe don't become a teacher.
Re: (Score:2)
> Then maybe don't become a teacher.
Or run for House / Senate. /s
Does it mean a street, or...? (Score:2)
Check out the Language Jones analysis, if you like language and big words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laZpTO7IFtA&pp=ygUObGFuZ3VhZ2Ugam9uZXM%3D
Doubtful (Score:2)
Stating the obvious, the fact that it is reported on the internet doesn't make it true. It just means it will grab your attention. What is true is that the bane of all teachers is that kids are childish.
Once today's kids run out of fingers... (Score:2)
They can't do math and instead go all 'blame the meme'.
Don't tell them there are five more fingers on the other hand.
Okay, I get 7. (Score:2)
Seven has always been a troublemaker, starting when it ate nine.
nothing new (Score:2)
Kids are stupid and Skrilla is a shitty, no talent rapper. The brain rots just gets worse.
Poor education (Score:2)
How bad of a teacher do you have to be that kids having a bit of fun in Math class, over nothing and with no effort on your part, is an existential crisis? I would be trying to sneak a 67 answer on every damn quiz until the fad dies off (as it must.)
Damore got himself fired for embarassing his CEO (Score:2)
Fuck Damore. He got fired because the fucking CEO of Google had to end his vacation and respond to his shallow proclamations about gender differences to the fucking media...regarding his shitty manifesto he made on company time and company servers. Reread his manifesto...it's dumb and basic...nothing profound, nothing insightful, nothing interesting. Did people overreact? Fine...if you want to think so, I won't disagree...but the dumb fucker clearly kicked a hornet's nest....anyone who wasn't a moron wo
Ok boomer (Score:1)
I seriously doubt a silly meme is causing that much problem for teachers as opposed to the literally billions of dollars in funding that is being drained from the school by voucher programs where 95% of the people using them were already sending their kids to private schools and are now just getting some of my taxpayer money for free.
Seriously if you want to get pissed off at somebody go look up arizona. There are people taking the school voucher shit and using it to buy Ski-Doos and take Disney vacatio
What the hell is going in schools nowdays? (Score:1)
If we tried some nonsense like this in my day, we would certainly be thrown out of the classroom.
Re: (Score:2)
If we tried some nonsense like this in my day, we would certainly be thrown out of the classroom.
The poor little snowflakes must never be sanctioned. They've even invented a term for it. It's called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Yet another BS diagnosis thought up by the lunatics over there at the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980.
Your ignorance of special education is profound (Score:2)
>> If we tried some nonsense like this in my day, we would certainly be thrown out of the classroom. The poor little snowflakes must never be sanctioned. They've even invented a term for it. It's called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Yet another BS diagnosis thought up by the lunatics over there at the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980.
First of all, FUCK YOU. But to the bystanders. No, this dumbass is whining about ODD...which is fucking real. I have a good friend who's kid has it. The kid has everything going for him...perfect family, middle class, Jewish, good community involvement, very involved parents, model student older brother and model student younger sister...no sign of genetic issue, but the fucking kid is a terrorist. He is really beyond anything you've seen and he can't help himself. Modern discipline doesn't work, old-
So, this has left math teachers... (Score:2)
At sizes and sevens, huh?
Re: So, this has left math teachers... (Score:2)
I meant "at sixes and sevens". /Damn you autocorrect
There you go. It's already happening. (Score:2)
Our children, and our children's children, are going to be worse off, not better off, than we had it. I can feel the dumb sweeping the nation and it's already obvious in business and STEM employment that the pool of new talent simply isn't there. They can't even handle the sh*t jobs so that they can work their way up to a real job. And they're not even the least bit concerned about it. Cory Doctorow coined the phrase "enshitification". How about a new phrase, "enshitadolescence"?
This discussion... wow (Score:2)
I don't know that I've ever seen such an obvious demonstration of just how many old geezers are on Slashdot.
(and I say that as a fellow old person haha)
I take it this has nothing to do with (Score:2)
Patrick McGoohan and Jeri Ryan
Kids (Score:3)
Kids say dumb shit, film at 11
Re: (Score:3)
"Ok class, the next time anyone disrupts class with an outburst like that, they will go into detention. Furthermore, any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments for the day, that will affect your grade."
Back it up with action.
Of course, I have never worked as a teacher and have no idea what the problem with this is. I wonder if someone with my "punish disobedience" attitude just wouldn't succeed as a teacher, these days.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Punishing disobedience is racist.
Re: (Score:1)
?
[citation needed]
Re: (Score:2)
And this is why college was a completely different experience from high school. Everyone wanted to be there (and if you didn't, you got notes from someone that day, or those that didn't want to be there). I only remember one guy ever making wisecracks in college, and they were actually really funny.
oops (Score:2)
*or those that didn't want to be there... dropped out
Re: (Score:2)
Disciplining kids is so 20th century.
Parents are far more self righteous then when we were kids, I think modern teachers get a ton of pushback whenever they try to discipline kids in the same manner they would have in the 80's and 90's. I agree though, every kid doing this should be sent through the discipline process until they either shape up or they're made their parent's problems.
Re: (Score:1)
But what is actually wrong with what they are doing? It's silly. Kids are silly. Kids have been doing silly things like this since the beginning of time. It's a fad. It will go away. Unless it is repeatedly *disruptive*, it's not something that should be *punished*.
Re: (Score:3)
> But what is actually wrong with what they are doing?
That's not obvious? They're disrupting class and everyone's ability to learn which is the entire reason they're at school not to mention being incredibly rude to the teacher. Not disciplining them is just teaching them that they can get away with behavior like this and many of them will likely have problems later in life because of it.
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What does that have to do with anything? Of course being disruptive in class isn't illegal, that doesn't mean it should be allowed.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Things went off track in the 90's with the introduction of shrinks/counselors in schools and really in general. Psychology is a pseudoscience built from the tools used by charlatans and cults around the globe. While you can't stop adults from joining that cult; you should keep it away from children.
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Good thing I wear a tin foil hat. It keeps the psychology rays out.
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And that theory is supported with the same level of physical evidence as the rest of psychology. ;)
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> "every kid doing this should be sent through the discipline process"
100% agree. After one warning.
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Well sure, a warning is part of the discipline process. They are kids after all.
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Teachers are no longer what you remember because every parent is now armed with a lawyer to guard anyone disrupting their child's freedom or mental wellness.
- You made my child cry, I want 10 million for pain and suffering. Oh and for you to be fired.
Re: Kids (Score:1)
What if you ignore it and let it end on its own?
Is this even a real thing or just an attempt to cherry-pick data in support of the Philadelphiazition of the internet theory?
Re: (Score:2)
I'm from the "give them something to cry about" school rather than the "give them something to make them stop crying" school.
But over time we've actually shifted away from 'punishment' to 'debt' and the way to clear the debt is generally something which is beneficial. You are never good enough, you should always strive to win, etc are built-in but on their face are a recipe for NEVER being content no matter how much you succeed so we've kept the competition and notion of continually recognizing your mistake
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Kids doing this are probably too young to really care about their grades. It might also be illegal, as in some jurisdictions you can't reduce the measurement of someone's ability due to their behaviour, because then it's not a measure of their ability anymore. There is a separate disciplinary record for that.
People seem to forget that children are children. It's unrealistic to expect them to spend all their time at school being serious.
But of course, the story is largely an exaggeration anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
> Ok class, the next time anyone disrupts class with an outburst like that, they will go into detention. Furthermore, any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments for the day, that will affect your grade
And then the kid doesn't show up for detention, then what? You call the parent, they don't answer the phone or if they do they blame you. Then what?
The only ones who do the extra homework are the kids who aren't causing the problem. So why punish them?
The kids who are disruptive don't care about their grade. So then what?
It's a tough time for teachers and blaming them is unfair.
It's easy to blame parents / guardians, but it's a tough time to be a parent / guardian, too. Rent and food keeps on going up
Re: Kids (Score:1)
any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments Also known as "collective punishment". Like if your neighbor was speeding today, everybody in your street would have to pay a fine.
Re: (Score:2)
>> any time any one of you does this, you are all getting extra homework assignments Also known as "collective punishment". Like if your neighbor was speeding today, everybody in your street would have to pay a fine.
And? Seems like that would be an ideal solution. The only way shit like this become unacceptable is if the "community" shuns it. After a couple speeding tickets you don't think the rest of the residents on that street would start doing something about the problem themselves? It's been a long damn time since I was in school, but I can't imagine the power of being shunned or shamed by your peers has lost its power.
Re: Kids (Score:1)
My example may not have been clear enough. Here is another one: what if, when your neighbors defaults on their mortgage, the whole street now needs to chip in to pay off the loan. That might start to feel like your life is getting destroyed because of something you have no control over, right? And that's exactly how kids feel when they are punished for something that somebody else did.
Re:Kids (Score:5, Insightful)
And all that would need to be done to shut this down tomorrow would be for the teachers to start doing it. No way in hell kids are going to continue once "old people" are doing the same thing.
Re: (Score:2)
This guy gets it!
Re: (Score:2)
My wife looked into this, and said it came from a basketball announcer saying something like "He's only 6-2, but he plays like he is 6-7", and *then* it took off. Not sure if the Skrilla line actually was lifting from *that* or if that was the original.
But yes, it's a thing. My kid will go, "Six Seven... Eleven" because it rhymes and is stupid and just this morning a bunch of kids at his elementary school were rhyming it a lot. Yes it is dumb. Yes it will go away in a month.
Re: Kids (Score:2)
So does the immediate instinct to "contain" it say more about how school is authoritarian first of all, not about knowledge at all?
Re: (Score:2)
No, I don't think so. Part of schooling is to instill self-discipline and prepare students to participate in a communal society. Their education should include reinforcing that type of behavior as generally unacceptable in that particular setting. There's a time and place for fuckery. You'd be hard-pressed to find an adult that thinks kids need LESS self-discipline instilled in them.
Re: (Score:2)
They do. And they always have. I don't know how to describe this phenomena to you in a way that communicates what this is like. For disclosure, I have three kids. Two are of high-school age and are largely too old for this particular meme. The third is in elementary school and that's where this seems to hit the hardest.
Those two numbers together is enough to get better than 90% of a group of elementary school students to reflexively shout "SIIIIIIIIX-SEEEEEVEEEEEN." You can punish them. You can deny th