Why the Numbers 6-7 Are Driving Math Teachers Up the Wall

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

ikeashark

14 points

23 comments

npr.orgOtherstory

calmmixed

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40/100

Math EducationTeaching MethodsStudent Learning

Key topics

Math Education

Teaching Methods

Student Learning

The article discusses how the numbers 6 and 7 are causing issues for math teachers, sparking a discussion on HN about teaching methods and student understanding of math concepts.

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01Story posted
Oct 20, 2025 at 11:15 AM EDT
2 months ago
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Oct 20, 2025 at 11:39 AM EDT
24m after posting
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12 comments in 1-2h
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Oct 20, 2025 at 3:40 PM EDT
2 months ago
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Discussion (23 comments)

Showing 23 comments

mondainx

2 months ago

1 reply

Its just another brainrot meme, it'll die down fo sho

_wire_

2 months ago

Word

duxup

2 months ago

2 replies

As a kid I remember some moral outrage over ... garbage pail kids.

I can handle a silly kid meme, they happen all the time.

fred_is_fred

2 months ago

2 replies

I lived through that one as a kid and see this one as parent. This is different. A few kids at school brought garbage pail kids in and would show them at recess. This is more every kid anytime someone says these specific numbers. It's ubiquitous and constant. Nobody was throwing garbage pail kids around every math lesson.

graypegg

2 months ago

1 reply

Imagine yourself at 12yo, and just believe the axiom that saying 6 7 is funny. Your parents are telling you that interrupting math class in such a ubiquitous and constant manner is beyond the pale. They reach into their past, where "the thing banned at school" was actually acceptable and clearly different.

Maybe it depends on who you were as a kid... but if I'm who I was at 12yo, I'm going to keep doing it, and now it's way funnier. You're playing a hugely important role being the lame adult in many recess discussions. No offence.

fred_is_fred

2 months ago

2 replies

Disrupting class is where the line is drawn in our house, no matter the mechanism of doing so.

graypegg

2 months ago

As it should! Just know that people between your age and their age see the common through-line here, and it might not be as serious as it feels. I’ll become blind to it as well in a while haha, sadly comes with becoming more wise.

Personal anecdata: 69 showing up in any math class was comedy gold in early 2010s highscool. The class was interrupted for impromptu 1 word stand up.

dpark

2 months ago

If the school is creating an environment where disruption is tolerated, that’s the problem. And as a parent should absolutely council your children to not be disruptive in class. But “6 7” isn’t the problem here.

duxup

2 months ago

That makes 6 7 sound even less impactful.

saulpw

2 months ago

A bit of trivia: Garbage Pail Kids were created by Art Spiegelman, who later won the Special Pulitzer for his fantastic graphic novel "Maus" about his family's experience during the Holocaust.

graypegg

2 months ago

2 replies

> Some language experts say it is not brain rot

What do these language experts call "brain rot"? We're sorting things into brain-rot/not brain-rot now? I do know the definition in a you-know-it-when-you-see-it sort of sense... but I don't think "language experts" should be that dismissive of anything they haven't heard.

If you keep telling kids their brains are rotted out and some arbitrary subset of things they think are fun are signs of literal cognitive decline, they're either going to embrace it to mess with you or be depressed. Here's hoping it's the former! Gen alpha punk is going to be an insane scene once they grow up and realize how narrow the path their parents laid for them is, and I'm (selfishly) hoping we get some kick-ass music from it. ;)

Bender

2 months ago

1 reply

Meme Slang [1]. Some day it will be replaced by a new old word. Looking forward to what gen Beta comes up with. New parents, start the subliminal training now.

[1] - https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brain%20rot

graypegg

2 months ago

1 reply

Fair point! I think it just feels a little more… mean?

Slang is a value judgement on the word, but no one is a “slanger”. So at least that works fine for talking about language without setting some cultural standard that people using slang are “bad”, just that slang is “bad” and the connection is left up to the gullible reader.

“Brain rot” is a funny over exaggeration, but it’s also talking about the person. Someone/some generation HAS brain rot, which is much more explicit. The tone feels off for a field studying language.

I think all things considered, Gen Alpha is dealing with the nihilism thrown their way alright, laughing through it all is all you can do sometimes

Bender

2 months ago

Fair point! I think it just feels a little more… mean?

It is somewhat a pejorative. It's just a matter of time before gen Beta start getting called "Betas". If I find a word to be cringe inducing I just replace it on the fly using FoxReplace. [1] Quoting the replaced words can be interpreted in many ways.

[1] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/foxreplace/

duxup

2 months ago

It feels like "brain rot" has entered the phase as an equivalent to "I don't like it". There's really no meaning beyond that in the current usage.

thijson

2 months ago

My son is into this. At the pool yesterday I heard some kids counting up for a game. When they reached 6 and 7, they said 6-7. My son found that pretty funny.

jeffrallen

2 months ago

The kids are alright.

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lunias

2 months ago

IMO most slang is interesting because of the etymology, but 6-7's etymology seems tenuous, made up, almost as if it were invented post-meme. If the origin story is accurate, then I think widespread adoption of 6-7 is "brain rot" only because if you ask someone why they're saying that they probably respond, "Dunno. Funny. 6-7 lol."

cranberryturkey

2 months ago

Why is 6 afraid of 7?

....because 7 8 9

ziml77

2 months ago

One person I was talking to said they assumed that 67 is derived from the longstanding funny number: 69. I think that actually makes perfect sense because 7 ate 9.

dpark

2 months ago

> UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: We are actually using six-seven as a call and response. Now, there's many ways that you can do it, but the way my class specifically wanted to do it was they want me to go six, and then they all go, seven.

This is hilarious. Adults embracing it and ruining it for the kids.

The pearl clutching about “brain rot” is ridiculous. This stuff is very “get off my lawn”. Is it annoying and dumb? Of course. So what?

ikeasharkAuthor

2 months ago

As of right now there is 6 points and 7 comments. Take that as you will.

jasonthorsness

2 months ago

Ha I have two kids (middle and high school) and this is 100% really happening, but to be honest it is pretty hilarious

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ID: 45644890Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:08:48 PM

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