I also see this is the answer. I stand corrected.

Negative 6 positive 2 cannot be and infact has never been equal to negative 8.
NEVER EVER.

But negative 4 is njess!

The answer is one7.

Even multiplication and division are on the same level...consider this... 6 / 2 is the same as 6*1/2...in a plain expression, the default order of operations is left to right when oerations are on the same level...and since maths is a precise science, if you want another part of the equation to supercede the left to right order, you draw some brackets enclosing that part ...which will then give it preference. Its an explicit thing, the fine print counts, like a law contract. With this one I am going to go with 17 (the original citizen equation).
For those who feel strongly that it conflicts with math instructed in primary school, I will remind you of physics in seco ...you were told light is a wave ...then in university for those who took courses with physics units...you were then told light is particles (quanta). Like someone said, bodmas is evaluated in context, it is too complicated for children. Another example ...if you did an equation where the divisor was zero you got zero for a the final result ...that was OK up until form 4 ....but to split hairs the final result is not zero ...it is indeterminate/undefined. I had a professor who would fail you if you wrote zero at the end of such an operation.

A number takes the sign before it (If no sign then its positive ). (Class 3 Maths.) When presented with different arithmetic signs, use the acronym BODMAS....I don't know how some fellows make it in life if they can not get this.

...

Parents parents parents......It's never too late to go back to school.

Addition and subtraction are at the same level just as division and multiplication is.Here,the left to right rule takes over,hence,

21-6+2 i as simple as that....17.If you got anything other than that,wewe ni ndongomothi .

Let's try another one,parents.

11-5+8=???

And did someone post here that the O in BODMAS stands for OFF/OF???

that name looks soo qw.

No wonder Kenya is still a third world country....... people can't comprehend that 21-6+2 ≠ 21-(6+2)

.....Mama rudi ngumbaru.....O is for order."Order" refers to exponents (or indices), which means that a term is expressed as something to the power of something else ("52" is the same as saying "five to the power of two") or as the root of something ("√5" is the same as saying "the square root of five").......aaaaarg! i can't get to post five to the power of two