A school protest in France turned into a nationwide crisis. Nearly 5,000 arrests, 400+ schools closed and hundreds of police personnel injured. Social media accelerated the unrest, with viral content reportedly mixing old footage with current protests. One TikTok video crossed 800,000 views in 48 hours. The original school issue was partly addressed, but the movement kept expanding into violence, vandalism and political messaging. All this while France is already politically unstable, having seen four Prime Ministers since January 2024. A local grievance can become a national crisis very quickly when misinformation, social media amplification and weak political stability collide.