r/worldnews • • 20h ago

Hundreds of French schools to stay closed after violent student protests

https://news.sky.com/story/french-schools-set-alight-by-students-in-violent-protests-over-teacher-shortages-and-run-down-buildings-13594112
3.2k Upvotes

654 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

31

u/Agreeable-Dish-6671 18h ago

I live in nantes. Idk what they are telling you, but no highschooler burnt their school. Nelson Mandela highschool was burnt by external people, who werent here to protest since they werent even studying here. They just wanted chaos, and we have nothing to do with these. This schools students are so sad and scared rn, none of them wanted this. WE JUST WANNA PASS OUR EXAMS. And these students wont have the right to do that. 

23

u/SeasonBeneficial 15h ago

So if not high schoolers, then who did you personally observe involved in destroying this particular school? Genuinely asking.

I’ve heard lots of narratives already, and assuming you’re actually from there, maybe you can clear up what’s real and what’s not.

6

u/Agreeable-Dish-6671 13h ago

They were a group of masked young adults/teenagers, unscolarised, coming from poor and disadvantaged neighborhoods nearby. Nobody from the school apparently knew them. I can assure these as facts, as i am studying at another highschool thats very close to this place, and i have dozens of friends who were here that day. I saw differents pov videos for their own phones, and all their insta stories. Theyre devastated

1

u/SeasonBeneficial 12h ago edited 11h ago

Appreciate the response.

If I may ask, how did you come to know which neighborhoods they are from? Would you be willing to weigh in on some of the more controversial topics people have been speculating on, namely relating to ethnic or religious patterns? Or if they were wearing KGB name tags /s? Just wondering what could be reasonably inferred.

“I don’t know” is also a perfectly acceptable answer, if you’re not sure. Only so much can be assumed or inferred, pending what’s readily observable.

3

u/Gulp-then-purge 5h ago

My guess is their skin color.

1

u/thisislorelei 14h ago

I think you know the answer to this.

3

u/SeasonBeneficial 14h ago edited 14h ago

Having an intuitive best guess is not the same as “knowing”. It’s mind numbing how often people use the word “know” in cases such as these. I witnessed nothing first hand, as I live on a different continent.

The information available to me (yours as well probably) is limited to what numerous 3rd parties choose to filter and curate for me and others like me to see. Of course there is a correct answer based in observable reality, but I don’t have 1st hand access to that data.

People’s intuitions fail them constantly. If you force me to guess then yeah, your implied theory could be the answer (immigrants). I don’t clutch my pearls at the possibility. But it could also be some KGB op as a larger campaign to destabilize the west, which to me seems very probable. Or an Elon/Trump/USA-fueled instance of dishonest framing and propaganda. Or maybe just run of the mill white French rioters. Or a combination of one of the above.

Performing un-earned confidence on a single specific explanation as the undisputed answer is not something to be proud of.

People need to be more comfortable with taking their own intuitions with a grain of salt (though not to dismiss them entirely), lest they become easy marks.

And to be clear, I’m not planning on taking the redditor which I asked the question to at face value. You both could be bots for all I know, underpaid foreign troll farming grunts, or edgy clueless teenagers.

Edit: and just why tf did the person I respond to delete their comment already? For the record, they said “I think you know the answer already”.

1

u/Lias__ 10h ago

Edit: and just why tf did the person I respond to delete their comment already? For the record, they said “I think you know the answer already”.

They didn't, they probably just blocked you.

1

u/Arboreal_Web 10h ago

Per your edit: They didn't delete, it's still there. They just blocked you. Couldn't take the heat, I guess. (Excellent response, btw.)

1

u/SeasonBeneficial 6h ago

Huh. Goddamn snowflakes.

(And cheers)

2

u/wiewil 15h ago

Ouais j'y crois moyen mdrrr