Many have tuned in to the civil unrest that is, in some instances, literally burning France. The initial reports tied the origins of the conflict to student demonstrations over declining conditions and resources in the classroom. Though such needs are justifiably apparent, make no mistake: The destruction we have seen in France this fall is not the work of students.
In mid-September, teachers at a high school outside Paris walked out over staff shortages, and their students blocked the entrance with trash cans. One sophomore said there were 34 in the class and sometimes not enough chairs. But within two weeks, more than 1,000 schools were caught up in it. On Oct. 17, masked rioters burned most of the 143-year-old town hall in Limoges, and more than 1,800 people were arrested. That kind of fire does not come from teenagers fussing over crowded classrooms. It is fair to ask: Who was guiding them?
The condition of the classroom had definitely created some discontentment in the students. Likewise, the grievances of teachers have been piling up for some time. France has fought over pensions for decades. In 1982, it cut the retirement age from 65 to 60, and its pension system now runs in the red. When the government raised the age to 64 in 2023, the country took to the streets, and last fall the increase was suspended to keep a government from falling. The correction could not be made toward solvency. When the belt has to tighten, those most threatened by the cuts do not come to the table and simultaneously reach to mobilize children, for both were in subpar conditions that amounted to socially dry kindling.
But who lit the fire? Teachers? No.
France also has unions for high schoolers. A French scholar of these groups writes that their presidents are rarely students still in school. Usually the job goes to someone who already has the diploma. This fall proved it. The president of the high school union that called for blockading every high school was an adult, out of high school, and ran for city council on a ticket led by the far-left France Unbowed party. Then more adults outside the classroom space lined up. The big teachers unions called a strike and asked staff to stand “alongside” the students. The CGT, one of France’s biggest labor federations, joined in. Then came the politicians who “never let a good crisis go to waste,” to quote from Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. A far-left member of parliament filmed a video with kids crowded around him, warning that young people would “take it back themselves.” And the children organized on Snapchat, in private groups a 15-year-old said were meant “to keep the adults from knowing.” Many admitted they did not know who ran the chats. Further, they were provided a template poster and tool kit on how to run local resistance.
Pay attention. The USA is not so star-spangled immune. Our teachers unions are every bit as political. In the 2024 cycle, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers each sent better than 98% of their candidate and party money to one side of the aisle. And our kids carry the same phones with the same Snapchat and the same “toolkits” for demonstration that burned France.
The same pension pressures are building here. Illinois and New Jersey are under 60% funded, while Tennessee stands in contrast, ranking third in the nation. When some state finally has to correct course, similar pushback occurs, and some will hand our children a torch.
On April 3, 2023, a week after the Covenant School shooting, students walked out of classrooms across Nashville. Young organizers working with a national group coordinated it within days, and the demands came ready-made. An adult organizer from a local college provided the tool kit. Then came the politicians. Several leftist state representatives marched with the students, and three took to hijacking legislative proceedings with a bullhorn.
Now, a walkout is a far cry from a riot. Nashville did not burn, thank the Lord. But it showed how quickly an outside influence can organize our children, and that is the whole point. The tools are the same tools, on the same phones, in the same pockets. The effort is there, but in Tennessee, there is a fire line cut in.
In Tennessee, we have worked to make sure parents are never the last to know. In 2023, we passed a law requiring a parent’s signed, written consent before a child takes a school survey or joins a school club, and before instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. In 2024, we passed the Families‘ Rights and Responsibilities Act, which makes a parent’s right to direct a child’s upbringing and education a fundamental right and bars public employees from encouraging a child to keep things from their parents. We also require a parent’s consent before a minor opens a social media account. All of this is to prevent “adults not knowing.”
Our State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced the largest tech settlement in history, a landmark $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta that includes implementing a sweeping set of safety features to protect children on both Facebook and Instagram.
THE FRANCE RIOTS AREN’T A STUDENT REVOLT — THEY’RE SUPPORTED BY CCP-TIED DARK MONEY
To that end, I’m hopeful that other social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube, will come to the table and enact similar parental controls and protections for minor children. These platforms are in a great position to help us. Keep parents in the driver’s seat for what their children know and are being prompted to do.
Parents, you are the gatekeepers. Know who wants to use your child as the spark in a social fire, who is trying to send them to a barricade, and what they stand to gain while your child plays foot soldier in a fight they didn’t create.
Sen. J. Adam Lowe is a Tennessee state senator, a professor of public policy, and the author of the forthcoming Kidconomy: The Hijacking of the Minds of America’s Youth.