Oct 12, 2026 · 33 min · 9 segments
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Protests, including student walkouts over school conditions, are hardly unfamiliar to Americans.
They happen.
They just don't usually look like what we're seeing.
They are not this violent, they are not this fiery, and they are generally more actually peaceful.
The French riots have affected well over 500 schools.
They've hit nearly every urban locale in the country.
Hundreds of arrests, hundreds of fires, hundreds of policemen injured, millions or more in damage.
Okay, but are school conditions poor across France? Well, that's actually not obvious.
If you go to my written piece, or you can just Google it, Check out a picture of the Lycée Nelson Mandela in Nantes.
It was built in just 2014 with an estimated price tag of 80 million euros.
It was an eco-friendly construction with bio-sourced insulation, pricey light wood paneling, a solar array to make it energy positive.
I mean, the place is beautiful.
And the rioters set fire to the entrance hall, destroyed its glass facade, extensively damaged the skylight roof.
The building's going to be closed for at least the rest of the month as repairs are made.
I guess one way to solve the problem of crowded classrooms is to simply not have classrooms to go to.
Now, I jest, but it is all a bit curious, no? Why would protesters concerned about their educations trash their fancy new school? Why would they trash any school? How does setting garbage cans, cars, and firefighters on fire advance the cause of educational equity? Apparently, things really did kick off at a school in the southeastern Parisian suburb of Cretiel.
It was peaceful, too.
Staff and students at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry protested outside the building, demanding lower class sizes, a response to staffing shortages, and better exam conditions.
You can look at pictures of that protest.
It looks, all things considered, relatively chill.
But from there, it spread.
And it changed.
Things became violently unmanageable.
And the narrative that this was all just a push by kids who want to learn became more and more difficult to sustain.
Protests, including student walkouts over school conditions, are hardly unfamiliar to Americans.
They happen.
They just don't usually look like what we're seeing.
They are not this violent, they are not this fiery, and they are generally more actually peaceful.
The French riots have affected well over 500 schools.
They've hit nearly every urban locale in the country.
Hundreds of arrests, hundreds of fires, hundreds of policemen injured, millions or more in damage.
Okay, but are school conditions poor across France? Well, that's actually not obvious.
If you go to my written piece, or you can just Google it, Check out a picture of the Lycée Nelson Mandela in Nantes.
It was built in just 2014 with an estimated price tag of 80 million euros.
It was an eco-friendly construction with bio-sourced insulation, pricey light wood paneling, a solar array to make it energy positive.
I mean, the place is beautiful.
And the rioters set fire to the entrance hall, destroyed its glass facade, extensively damaged the skylight roof.
The building's going to be closed for at least the rest of the month as repairs are made.
I guess one way to solve the problem of crowded classrooms is to simply not have classrooms to go to.
Now, I jest, but it is all a bit curious, no? Why would protesters concerned about their educations trash their fancy new school? Why would they trash any school? How does setting garbage cans, cars, and firefighters on fire advance the cause of educational equity? Apparently, things really did kick off at a school in the southeastern Parisian suburb of Cretiel.
It was peaceful, too.
Staff and students at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry protested outside the building, demanding lower class sizes, a response to staffing shortages, and better exam conditions.
You can look at pictures of that protest.
It looks, all things considered, relatively chill.
But from there, it spread.
And it changed.
Things became violently unmanageable.
And the narrative that this was all just a push by kids who want to learn became more and more difficult to sustain.
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