A Malaysian teacher has gone viral after sharing how she dealt with a student who repeatedly performed the viral “67” gesture while she was teaching.
Instead of scolding him, she decided to turn his favourite classroom distraction into a lesson he would remember.
Had allegedly been warned several times
In a Threads post, a teacher claimed that one of her students began doing the “67” gesture during her lesson.
According to the teacher, this was not the first time the student had done it, and she had already warned him several times before.
Tired of repeatedly telling him to stop, she called the student to the front of the classroom.
“Okay, I want you to do the 67 gesture now. Do not stop until I tell you to,” she recalled telling him.
The student apparently followed her instructions without hesitation and happily continued doing the gesture throughout the remaining lesson.
Teacher tells him to continue at the school hall
When the class ended, the teacher noticed that the student still did not appear to regret his actions.
She then invited him to follow her to the school hall.
“Come with me to the hall. I want you to do it there too,” she told him.
A rhythmic speaking practice session was reportedly taking place at the hall at the time, meaning there were many people gathered inside.
At first, the student happily followed his teacher. However, his confidence quickly disappeared when he arrived and saw the crowd.
“Why did you stop? Come and do the 67 gesture in the hall,” the teacher reportedly told him.
The student refused and told her that he felt embarrassed.
When she reminded him that he had no problem performing the gesture in class earlier, his face reportedly began to change as though he was about to cry.
Teacher stops punishment and explains why his actions were disruptive
Seeing the student lower his head and become emotional, the teacher admitted that she began to feel guilty.
Rather than forcing him to perform the gesture in front of everyone, she explained why he should not repeat it during lessons.
“No more 67 in class after this. Doing that can disturb your friends. If I see you doing it again, you will really have to come to the hall, okay?” she recalled telling him.
The student quietly nodded.
The teacher then rubbed his head and reassured him that she had disciplined him because she cared and did not want him to behave disrespectfully in class.
She added that the student’s eyes became watery, while she also felt emotional despite being the one carrying out the punishment.
Netizens discuss teacher’s unusual approach
Several commenters found the teacher’s approach amusing, with one joking that making the student repeatedly perform the gesture was better than getting angry.
Another commenter said children were easily influenced by viral online trends and urged parents to pay closer attention to the content their children consume.
Some also believed an embarrassing consequence could discourage students from repeating disruptive behaviour.
However, others raised concerns about punishments that could humiliate children in front of their peers.
In this case, the teacher ultimately chose not to make the student perform in front of the crowd and instead used the moment to explain why his behaviour was affecting the class.
