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French Youth Take the Streets against a Bleak Future : A Report
This past week, thousands of teenagers have taken the streets of France, clashing with police as they demonstrate against the deplorable conditions in their high schools and a rapidly collapsing future. This is a promising sign, shifting attention from the seemingly unstoppable rise of the extreme right to the question of what people can do on a grassroots basis to defend themselves. Our correspondents in Paris explore the situation in detail.
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Another unprecedented summer of record heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires throughout Europe underlines the desperate situation we are all facing today, while politicians of all stripes and their techno-industrial sponsors continue to turn a blind eye, forcing us down the path to catastrophe in the name of progress.
Hoping to turn the page on these environmental disasters, the French government has hurriedly shifted focus to other priorities. The coming months represent a crucial transition for Emmanuel Macron and his government, as they will bring Macron’s second term to a close, opening a new political era in France. Candidates are already battling to succeed Macron in power at the beginning of May 2027.
In the midst of this political spectacle, during an increasingly menacing surge in the popularity of the National Rally (formerly, the National Front), the extreme-right party, it is especially meaningful that teenagers have started to organize at a grassroots level to defend themselves. This organizing gained momentum last week, when blockades of high schools, demonstrations, and riots erupted across France, taking everyone by surprise.
Students clash with police forces in Montpellier on October 2, 2026.
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# Licensed to Kill?
Since Macron was elected President for the first time in May 2017, the political discourse in France has been even more dominated by an emphasis on authoritarian and far-right ideologies in terms of security, immigration, and economic and social issues.
This political shift towards an even more aggressive form of governance has led to increasing state violence targeting the social movements and uprisings that have emerged since. From the eviction of the ZAD at Notre-Dame-des-Landes in 2017 to the riots following the murder of Nahel in 2023, not forgetting the Yellow Vest sequence and the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown experimental doctrines, we have experienced a headlong plunge into a world of surveillance, repression, and loss of individual freedoms. This has become today’s new normal.
It was in this already suffocating context that last July, the French government decided to vote on a new bill giving police officers more latitude to use their firearms without consequences—a demand that the far right has promoted for years. If voted through, this legislation could set a dangerous precedent, as it would establish “a presumption of ‘legitimate use of arms’ by police and gendarmes ‘in the exercise of their duty’.”
Police arrest a student in Lyons on October 1, 2026.
In other words, not only will police officers be able to freely use their weapons if in any situation they claim to fear for their lives or the lives of others, but authorities will no longer have to prove that the officers acted within the framework of the law, as they are required to do today. It will be up to the victims and their families to provide evidence that the use of firearms was not justified. We can already see how this new law represents a legislative tool enabling law enforcement agents, and therefore, the state, to cover up future murders.
Unwilling to let such a law pass without resistance, political opponents and radicals, who had rightly rebranded this law the “license to kill,” decided to organize massive demonstrations and events throughout France on the weekend of September 18 to 20. Thousands of people took part in these protests in different major cities alongside traditional leftist politicians, rights groups such as Amnesty International and the League of Human Rights, and various lawyers and magistrates’ unions.
In the meantime, another call for action reusing all the codes of the Yellow Vest movement spread online. The origins of this call remain obscure, as some national newspapers have raised the possibility that AI-generated accounts had flooded social media platforms with this rumor on purpose. Nevertheless, media and politicians began commenting on this potential resurgence of the Yellow Vest movement due to the rise of fuel prices and the overall increase of living costs. Rumor or not, the call to take the streets on October 17, 2026 has spread and only the future will tell us if people’s desperation and anger will be able to give birth to another inspiring moment.
Police forces welcome students blocking their high school with clouds of tear gas in Lille on September 30, 2026.
# Growing Frustrations…
Since mid-September, another form of discontent has been slowly spreading within another part of society. Tired of their working conditions, some high-school students decided to block access to their schools in order to make their voices heard. During the early stages of what became a national movement a few days later, only a few high schools were blocked here and there. This did not create any real impact or worry the authorities.
Among the students’ various demands, we can summarize the following points:
* Reduce the number of students per class.
For years now, the number of students per class has gradually increased to the point that it is not unusual for a teacher to have an average of between 30 to 35 students in a classroom. This is impacting the capacity for every single student to learn at their own pace.
* Reduce the number of school hours per week.
Even if France is known for having numerous and long school breaks throughout the year, students usually spend a long day at school—sometimes from 8 am until 6 pm—adding up to 28 or 35 hours of teaching per week, depending on the high school level and options.
* Improve high school infrastructure.
Just like the state’s territorial management, high schools reproduce social inequalities. Some high schools located in rich districts have no infrastructure issues, while high schools located in low-income areas are falling apart. For example, some high schools have constant bathroom issues, some have no heat during winter and no proper insulation, some have roofs that leak when it rains.
* Put an end to “ParcourSup.”
“ParcourSup” is the name of an online platform that students have to use during their final year to list what they would like to do after the school year. Created in 2018, this platform allows students to list their “wishes” and apply to different post-secondary education options such as universities, colleges, vocational and trade schools, and the like. Run by algorithms, this platform has been criticized since its implementation for the opacity of the criteria according to which it fulfills or thwarts students’ wishes. The platform creates considerable stress and competition among students, as those with better grades can be accepted more easily while the others might find no options whatsoever after high school, proving once more that this form of computerized selection increases social disparities and inequalities.
* Engage more substitute teachers to maintain continuity in learning.
Students have been complaining that when one of their teachers is sick, there is often no substitute teacher available to take over in order to assist them in continuing to learn. This creates situations in which students sometimes don’t have a teacher for weeks in a specific discipline, even if it will be part of their national high school diploma exam.
Students burning trash bins in front of a high school in Lille on October 1, 2026.
All the previous points made by students are the direct result of years of educational restructuring, public spending cuts, and neo-liberal reforms. More and more, public schools are managed like private companies and forced to compete with one another to be more efficient.
This is not to say that without public spending cuts and neo-liberal reforms, the school system would be desirable. Under capitalism, the school system is a tool for the state to coerce us, to crush our individuality, to subdue our rebellious spirits and desires in order to reduce us to a docile workforce that can be exploited for the rest of our lives.
Police forces moving towards a burning barricade in Saint-Denis on October 1, 2026.
# …Burst into Flames
By Monday, September 28, word had finally spread among students to coordinate actions on a larger scale. Early that morning, students started blocking the entrances of their schools, creating makeshift barricades out of whatever they could find nearby and in some cases by setting trash containers ablaze. Some of these blockades might have been the initiative of student unions or small political organizations, but in other cases, these actions were clearly personal initiatives on the part of small groups of highly motivated individuals. Viral images on social media likely helped to spread the word, creating a domino effect among teenagers: “Look at what the other high school is doing. Let’s do it, too!” This first day of action set the tone for the rest of the week as the movement spread beyond Paris and its suburbs.
The following day, while teachers, health care workers, firefighters, and other people from the public sector went on strike and demonstrated by the thousands in various cities against the next government budget cuts and in favor of better wages and working conditions, high-school students increased the pressure by protesting in front of some 400 schools throughout France, fully blockading approximately 40 of them.
Without hesitating, Laurent Nuñez, the current Interior Minister and former Prefect of Police of Paris from 2022 to 2025, decided to repress this emerging movement via brute force. Police were sent to high schools to crush the blockades and disperse the crowds of teenagers. Unsurprisingly, this strategy provoked confrontations between high-school students and heavily equipped police forces.
During the clashes, police used numerous tear gas canisters and shot rubber bullets at students while groups of teenagers and young adults resisted by throwing stones, bottles, fireworks, and other projectiles. By the end of the second day of actions, more than 400 individuals had been arrested across France, with two thirds of those arrests leading to police custody, according to official sources.
Police forces in front of a burning barricade in Lille on September 30, 2026.
Nevertheless, the brutal repression didn’t undermine the determination of the students, who decided to continue the movement, blocking the schools on a massive scale on Wednesday, September 30. Clashes with law enforcement continued to escalate while blockades and other actions spread to numerous major cities, forcing the Interior Minister to officially recognize that same night that despite his repressive strategy, the student movement was gaining momentum and expanding. On September 30, police arrested 625 individuals during the clashes. The first evidence of police brutality circulated online, as at least three students were severely injured by police ammunition.
On Thursday, October 1, the students continued to organize. For the first time since the beginning of the movement, some university students decided to join the struggle—even if they were not as numerous and determined to act as their younger accomplices. Fully 900 demonstrations, riots, and blockades took place all around France. Authorities reported arson attempts both outside and inside some buildings; due to some extensive fire damage, a high school in Nantes will remain closed for a whole month. That day, students were able to shut down at least 160 high schools and to block access to 30 universities. This intense day of action resulted in almost 2000 new arrests, raising the total number of students arrested and detained since the beginning of the week to nearly 3000.
The Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes on October 1, 2026. After the arson, the high school will remain closed for at least a month.
# Defending Power at Any Cost
That night, the government realized that its inability to control student unrest was drawing it towards another political crisis.
In order to regain control of the situation, the authorities made several hasty decisions:
* The current Prime Minister called a crisis cabinet meeting for the following day to discuss possible plans and strategies to put an end to this unrest, on the grounds that the situation had shifted from a student movement characterized by school blockades to an unruly situation of urban violence.
* The Minister of Education announced publicly that 400 high schools would be closed on Friday for “safety reasons,” either because the safety of the working personnel and students could not be assured, or simply on account of property damage. Students who can’t go to their schools will be following their classes online. In doing this, the government is reusing some of the strategies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in a different context.
* The Minister of Education also announced that, the following day, he would meet with student unions and political organizations to hear their demands and find collective solutions in order to end the crisis. By meeting so-called spokespersons, the government wants to weaken the movement by dividing “good” students with legitimate requests from “rioters” and “violent individuals.”
* The Interior Minister presented law enforcement agencies with an official list of all the high schools considered “high risk” by its intelligence services. In Paris alone, there were 13 high schools on this list. This suggests that the government has identified potential threats to the reigning order and is preparing to do everything in its power to neutralize these threats.
* The Minister of Justice gathered attorneys general in order to discuss the proper legal response to adopt in order to prosecute all the students in custody. It is highly possible that the government will try to process these cases as fast as possible in courts, requesting harsh legal repercussions in order to make an example of these brave young individuals.
Nonetheless, all these announcements barely curbed the momentum of student unrest. Actions, blockades, and clashes with police continued across the country on Friday, October 2 before a well-deserved weekend.
A police officer attempts to destroy a burning barricade in Aubagne on October 2, 2026.
After a full week of political unrest involving intense property destruction, confrontations with law enforcement, and repression, and while the first trials were getting underway, political leaders of every stripe sought to use this situation to their own advantage, reaffirming their various positions.
While Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right party National Rally, emphasized the supposed need to create a new “anti-rioter” law in order to repress those who commit property destruction and resist police, the Macron government criticized the “violence” that took place and played on the classic dichotomy between “good ways of protesting” and “unforgivable ways of protesting”—while at the same time accusing the so-called “far-left” statist party of being responsible of all these events.
Clashes between students and police forces in Brest on October 2, 2026.
On Sunday, October 4, the government officially announced that the following day, more than 400 high schools in France would remain closed as security conditions still could not be assured. The Minister of Education declared that “24 schools had been burnt or ransacked and 78 education staff members injured” since the beginning of the movement.
Riot police arrest a demonstrator in front of a high school in Toulouse on October 2, 2026.
Students running away from tear gas in the streets of Lyons on October 2, 2026.
# What Now?
Right now, information is flooding media outlets about the events of Monday, October 5. So far, it is estimated that almost 1000 individuals were arrested today, 589 schools experienced protests or blockades—240 schools in the Paris region alone—and 65 law enforcement agents were injured during confrontations with demonstrators. This suggests that the movement is not slowing down.
We are deeply saddened to learn that on October 5, in Lens, a 15-year-old boy lost his hand after picking up a stun grenade that law enforcement officers used to attack protesters. One of the three teenagers injured last week suffers from a broken jaw, having been shot point blank with a grenade launcher. Currently, the 14-year-old boy can’t open his mouth, as all his bottom teeth were knocked out by the impact and all his upper teeth are broken. Another 16-year-old teenager injured last week lost an eye after an officer shot him in the face with a rubber bullet.
Unfortunately, as the government is not willing to back down and wants to regain control by any means necessary, police violence will only continue to escalate. More and more serious injuries are likely to occur in the next days of confrontations. So far, according to official sources, 215 students have been injured since the beginning of the movement, as well as 85 educational staff members and—supposedly—715 law enforcement officers. These figures are skewed to over-represent police: the state does not distinguish “offensive” injuries such as bruised knuckles from inflicted injuries, while most demonstrators who are injured do not dare to seek treatment for their wounds or, if they do, conceal the fact that they were injured by police violence. Injuring and mutilating people both physically and psychologically is the only solution the state has found to preserve the fragile illusion of order. The police and the government are not here to protect us.
Since the beginning of the student unrest, 5060 people have been arrested, including 4406 minors and 654 adults. As of today, 1802 individuals are facing charges: 1483 minors and 319 adults. Of those, 14 are in pre-trial detention—10 adults and 4 minors.
A burning barricade in Aubervilliers on October 2, 2026.
Right now, people are holding their breath on the eve of the Third Act of this high school movement. On Tuesday, October 6, there is another call to join students in the streets. Several sectors are already planning a variety of blockades elsewhere in France in solidarity.
No one can predict what will happen next or if the current political unrest will continue to gain momentum, reinventing and extending itself until October 17, the next day that there is a national call to take the streets. No one knows if the movement will find its resources to survive the brutal state and police repression that it is experiencing.
All we know for certain is that nothing is written in advance. The courage of the students taking part of this movement should inspire all of us to act now and to continue to push forward in order to fight against all odds for a better world!
Confrontations in Cran-Gevrier between students and police forces on October 1, 2026.
# Further Reading
These articles, written in French, explore these events further:
* _À nos enfants et lycéens_
* _Brûle ton lycée_
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A makeshift barricade in the streets of Paris on October 2, 2026. The graffiti refers to the extreme-right National Rally party.
