Everyone and their mother, teacher, and grandparent has probably heard of the internet meme “67,” or just a few months ago, of Italian brainrot. Memes grow, spread, and die out like wildfire. While some gain popularity within weeks, others become a worldwide phenomenon that they are named the word of the year for 2025. This is, of course, primarily talking about “67,” as that is the most recent trend that Woodford County schools are facing. Although it’s not particularly… Bad.
So What?
To some people, “67” is becoming a plague upon the minds of children, with how annoying and downright brain-rotted it can be at times. These claims do have merit, but they villainize the meme far too much, and it actually reaches ridiculous proportions. An anonymous WCHS student claims, “A lot of ‘brainrot’ internet memes affect the classroom severely, especially in subjects like math, with the use of ‘67’. They should be removed, although there is no simple way to remove them.” But others think somewhat differently: “I’m not hurting anyone by saying ’67’, I don’t see why everyone is so worked up about it. The best way to end this is to engage with the students about these meme words or to just let it roll off your back. Banning it would make it even more popular than it is right now.” (Jacob Skeeters, 9th) There seem to be two opinions emerging, but shockingly, the “67” hate is in the minority.
What’s the Data?
Roughly 81% of students interviewed say they are neutral or disagree that the topic of internet culture is an issue in the classroom. Only 18.8% of students shown in this study say that they believe it’s an issue. When prompted about how they would feel if these words were banned from the school, just a little over half (53%) rated the solution as one star, while the rest of the statistics are spread out, with nothing groundbreaking. But what does any of this actually mean?
What does it mean for WCHS?
As far as WCHS is concerned, these words will not be banned school-wide. But there is a hypothetical world where internet memes are prohibited in all classrooms, and that’s what I primarily want to discuss. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but memes like “67” are needed for student culture to thrive. It would be a dystopian world to have a high school where students can’t share jokes with their friends. Memes essentially create social circles, which build community. Community is a quality essential for any school, after all. Some memes are in no way school-appropriate, especially those focusing on politics or sensitive topics. WCHS is no exception to these jokes, and I see even seniors giggling at “67” or the Greek letter “Sigma” in my math class. Jayden Oakley puts it best: “There’s no way you could fully remove them from the classroom in my opinion, other than actually just banning speech, since at some point everything will become a joke.” People will treat anything as a joke, but banning them would be wrong and only inspire students to continue using them. Most students in the school agree that the joke will eventually become boring, and they’ll finally move on.
Conclusion
Memes aren’t going away any time soon. They will forever be in the classroom, and there’s not much anyone can do. However, this isn’t a bad thing! Students need memes to grow as a community—and if you dislike a certain joke, wait a few months, and it’ll fly past you. If you’re a teacher: join in! The more the merrier, and it can especially make any meme unfunny for freshmen caught unaware.
