"Let's protest because we're not getting the education they promised us but when we are protesting let's burn down the school in the process so that we don't have to go back tomorrow."
This makes me think of a song by Pink Floyd called Another Brick in the Wall, and they just keep talking about how "we don't need no education" :D
Jokes aside, I think the best way to combat this mindset is by spreading your knowledge with people who are willing to talk about it and may have not really thought about it before.
Spread the seed of thought, it multiplies faster than people realize, and this may be a better way of exacting change than trying to convince fire starters that it's not the right way to go about it while they're in the act. People like to do what the crowd does (collectively), so if the collective realizes that it's not a good idea then the frequencies of the occurrences will lesson over time. That's what I think anyway.
It's an odd paradox, that through lack of education this mindset takes place, and is an incessant demand to get what would help them make better decisions, like not cutting off your nose to spite your face.