You’ve probably heard it. Kids shouting two numbers, one after another in a particular cadence. “Six Seven.” What you might not know is why they shout it, and what they get from it. I have some thoughts on why kids have been shouting this constantly since the beginning of summer. If you are hoping to understand what it means, or where it comes from, I will be less helpful. The answer to that, as I understand it, is convoluted and doesn’t reach a very satisfying conclusion. Very basically, it originates in a song, and got layered on top of video of professional basketball players (in particular, LaMelo Ball), and it means nothing and everything all at once.
The practical outcome is that kids shout “Six Seven” in all sorts of situations, especially if anyone has the audacity to say those numbers in mundane conversation.
But why?
Here are some thoughts on why Six Seven has grown so big, through my lens as a camp director.
- It allows kids to influence the world around them while gaining immediate social capital response in laughter, attention, and leadership. Incidentally, it will stop being a thing when the positive social response from peers starts to wane.
- It signals belonging, acceptance, and being in the know.
- It belongs to kids, independent of adult influence. Kids have a desire to be independent.
- It allows kids to explore boundaries without exploring inappropriate or risky scenarios. Put another way, it’s not actually inappropriate to yell six seven, but adults will often react to it in strong ways. Kids know they can influence the adults around them by this phrase.
- It’s ambiguity in meaning allows it to be used in nearly all situations, providing ample opportunity to recontextualize it and find new reactions and responses.
- It is playing on a very human experience. What we now call internet memes we used to call folklore. While the manner of spread and in particular speed of dissemination is very different, the process of an idea or story evolving through populations as it is added too, subtracted from, and recontextualized is very human.
- It may also feel a little different from previous similar trends, because it is percolating through a younger age range, perhaps signaling the increasing impact of the internet on younger and younger kids.
Kid’s behavior can be understood as them trying to figure out the world. They are constantly working to find the boundaries and morays that we exist in and seeing how they can impact them. When kids are really young it’s easy to see. Infants experiencing their hands, grasping, putting things in their mouths, and reflecting smiles and laughter from a caregiver are all things they are doing to understand the world around them and how they can influence it. As they get older the signs are still there. They are doing the same things to see how they can influence and exist in the world around them. It just looks a little different.
This time it looks like kids yelling Six Seven, and seeing how the world reacts to them.
The question then becomes what we show kids about the world in how we react. At camp we always strive to create an environment where kids can learn from one another, where the path of success is as wide as possible, and where safety and support govern our responses.
Yet in full transparancy, I have stopped saying the number 6 or the number 7 whenever i can avoid it.
Jason
Know someone who would be good at helping kids safely explore the world around them? We are hiring for next summer!
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