You know that moment – you’re walking down the hallway, juggling a stack of passes or coffee, and you hear it:
“Skibidi!”
“Ohio!”
“Six-seven!”

No context. No explanation. Just a wave of laughter that makes you feel like you’ve missed the punchline to a joke that never had one in the first place.

It’s tempting to shrug it off. After all, middle and high school hallways have always been strange places – full of inside jokes, trends, and phrases that seem to appear out of thin air and vanish just as fast. But here’s the thing: those random bursts of silliness aren’t meaningless. In fact, they might be some of the most meaningful sounds in your building.

When you strip it down, every “Skibidi” or “rizz” echoing off the lockers is really a social experiment. Students are testing the waters – “Does anyone get me?” “Am I part of something here?” “Will anyone echo me back?”

That’s belonging in its rawest form. It’s not polished or profound. It’s clumsy and loud and sometimes just plain weird. But beneath the noise, what’s happening is deeply human. It’s connection-seeking disguised as chaos.

When a student shouts something random and everyone laughs, it’s not just about the joke – it’s about relief. Relief that they’re seen, heard, and not invisible. And when no one echoes back? That silence can sting more than we realize.

As school counselors, we have the incredible privilege (and challenge) of listening past the noise. The hallway might sound like nonsense, but it’s full of data – social rhythms, friendship patterns, inclusion, and sometimes quiet exclusion. The trick is learning to decode it.

Notice who starts the trend. Notice who never joins in. Watch for the student who finally throws out a “Skibidi” after weeks of silence – that might not be a random moment. It might be a hand reaching out for connection.

You don’t have to understand every meme or master Gen Z slang to respond with warmth. A quick grin, a wave, or even a playful echo back can be the signal that says, I see you.

Because at the end of the day, beneath all the jokes and trends, what our students are really saying is simple:

See me. Know me. Let me belong.

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