Today in France, students, teachers, and parents took to the streets in various cities, while protests led to the blockading of hundreds of schools, marking a significant day of action in a series of demonstrations urging the government to address the issues of understaffed and deteriorating classrooms.
The demonstrations kicked off peacefully in Marseille, Nantes, and Lyon earlier in the day, with the largest protest anticipated to take place in Paris later in the afternoon.
Youth participants displayed smoke flares and signs with messages like “Anger under our school books” and “Are politicians aware of our existence?”
This wave of protests follows two weeks of unrest that originated in the suburbs of Paris and spread throughout the nation. Authorities have responded with riot police, stating that the movement has evolved into urban violence.
During clashes between high school protesters and riot police in northern France on Monday, a teenager suffered a severe hand injury. The Prefect of Pas-de-Calais, François-Xavier Lauch, refrained from providing details on the incident but mentioned that a group of protesters had been throwing objects at law enforcement.
According to regional newspaper La Voix du Nord, the 15-year-old lost part of his lower arm and his hand after handling a police dispersal grenade.
A 15-year-old boy lost a hand during student protests across France calling for better school conditions. More than 5,000 young people have been arrested during the unrest, and dozens of schools have been burned or ransacked, according to the education minister.
The High School Students Union reported that around 1,800 high schools were either blockaded or set to close for the day. Some local education administrations have attempted to shift classes to online platforms. The Education Ministry has not released specific figures yet.
Hugo Vetzel, a high school student in Strasbourg preparing for university entrance exams, expressed concerns, stating, “When violence becomes the answer, it indicates a breakdown in democracy. There is a significant disconnect between the ruling class and us.”
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