Joke’s over.
As brainrot has become more mainstream, even teachers have started picking up on Gen-Z lingo. The moment those words escape their mouths, many students feel conflicted: is this a hit or a miss?
Faculty like math teachers Ambi Bobmanuel and Mesi Erdos have embraced Gen-Alpha’s new slang. Bobmanuel recounts the reactions from students as they saw the duo’s Halloween costume for the first time — a matching, purple cardboard 6 and 7.
“As I was walking around campus, children who I haven’t interacted with personally yet would point at me and they would be like, ‘Are you for real?’” Bobmanuel said. “Then I would respond back to them with the hand motions of 6-7 and they would go crazy. It was just really great to interact with new people.”
The “brainrot” phenomenon on social media is a continuation of the “iPad-kid” archetype of younger children, associated with an overconsumption of low-quality online content and short attention spans. This nonsensical slang associated with Gen-Alpha has been one of the most viral and dividing topics of conversation over the past few years.
The 6-7 meme originated from the song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Lord Skrilla, where the artist randomly says “6-7” in the final chorus. Social media users on Tiktok started making parodies of the song’s lyrics, editing and miming the “6-7” lyric. As the trend grew in popularity, students began to joke at the coincidental occurrence of the numbers 6 and 7.
As brainrot skyrockets in popularity, other viral sayings like “rizz,” “skibidi” or “lock in” have made their way into the classroom. Some teachers, like history teacher James Tate, have chosen to fully welcome the new slang.
“A lot of people in my generation fight against the linguistic changes that young people perform – they’re confused by them, upset by them, or they don’t understand them,” Tate said. “I think that’s kind of a losing battle, because language changes over time, whether you want it to or not. Even if you aren’t grammatically a fan of what’s going on, I think we should embrace it.”
After welcoming the onslaught of brainrot, Tate noted that students were able to better grasp concepts. According to Tate, one student used the word ‘skibidi’ to refer to the 19th century Market Revolution in their essay. Similar to words like “cool” or “sick,” the word “skibidi” can refer to surprising or negative aspects of a given topic. By utilizing modern slang to describe a past event, the student demonstrated their understanding of the event’s drawbacks and impact on the modern world.
Other teachers have found that using brainrot in the classroom is an effective way to grasp students’ attention, as it mirrors the short form media they consume. Bobmanuel notes how it helped facilitate math discussions and bolstered students’ retention of concepts taught during class.
“When I gave in to not fighting brainrot, something changed,” Bobmanuel said. “The children had a newfound respect for an adult who took an interest in their entertainment. When teachers use slang in a way that’s school appropriate, students can sometimes more readily identify with some of the concepts that are trying to be conveyed because it’s spoken in a way that their brain understands. They don’t have to code switch.”
From the students’ perspective, teachers’ usage of brainrot can sometimes make daunting concepts more approachable. One of Mr. Tate’s students, Lucas Lum (11), mentioned the positive impact Mr. Tate’s language had on the general classroom atmosphere during discussions.
“Brainrot is really engaging for the students,” Lucas said. “I think it also sets the tone of the class to be a lot more casual than a lot of other classes would typically be like. It also makes history, which has a pretty lengthy curriculum, a lot more comfortable and approachable.”
Youth language is constantly evolving, yet language in the classroom often stays stagnant. While many fear the possibility of distraction or disrespect, shared language has the power to bridge the generational gap and create a more dynamic and engaging educational environment.