Gen Alpha meme '6,7' prompts classroom bans as trend spreads worldwide
From a December 2024 rap track to TikTok videos and school hallways, '6,7' has moved from meme to classroom management tool and source of confusion for older generations.
A new Gen Alpha meme, '6,7', has surged through classrooms and family chats, prompting bans in some schools and leaving older generations perplexed. Educators in the United States and United Kingdom say the two numbers are being used to signal indifference or simply "nothing" in a range of settings, from locker-room banter to math-class warmups.
Scholars and media outlets trace the meme to Skrilla's December 2024 track "Doot Doot (6,7)," which helped popularize the phrase online. The Athletic described 6-7 as meaning nothing, or whatever meaning the user assigns, noting its spread through social videos that feature basketball players and other trends.
On social platforms, clips show athletes referencing the line and fans playing along. In one scene, 17-year-old Taylen Kinney shrugged when asked to rank his Starbucks order and answered with "6,7." In another post, 20-year-old Maya joked that Gen Alpha cousins now call her a "grandma" for not knowing what the phrase means.
Schools have begun to react. An eighth-grade teacher wrote on Reddit that he banned the phrase from his classroom because students would erupt into a chorus of "6-7" whenever those numbers were spoken. Gen Z PE teacher and content creator Mr. R said the trend has his students paying more attention to the numbers than to the lesson at times, a dynamic he described with a mix of humor and concern.
Some educators and creators are using the meme strategically. A TikTok user known as @thesandylion described using "6,7" to quiet a room and focus attention before proceeding with instruction.
Beyond 6,7, a wider Gen Alpha vocabulary is circulating online. London-based content creator Summer Fox tested her 12-year-old cousin's vocabulary and found terms such as "aura points" (a way to quantify how cool someone is) and "sigma" (used to describe a dominant leader or, contextually, "what the sigma" meaning "what the hell"), along with "skibidi" (from a YouTube series) and other slang like "slay" and "it's giving." Fox said she felt out of touch and laughed at her own confusion.
Cultural context dots: In Skrilla's track, the line "6,7" is linked to the Chicago area’s 67th Street, a reference that has been cited by Psychology Today. The line's pop-cultural traction—paired with a viral video ecosystem—has helped anchor the phrase in the broader conversation about Gen Alpha slang across the United States and the United Kingdom.
The phenomenon underscores how quickly youth culture can leap from music videos to classrooms and family chats across continents. Education officials say the trend also raises questions about how schools balance language exploration with classroom order, while parents watch a rapidly shifting digital vernacular that can outrun older generations’ familiarity.