French Student Protests Continue for Over a Week: Heavy Police Equipment Causes Severe Injuries to Minors, Government Suspends Use of Stun Grenades

The high school and university student protests in France, which have continued for more than a week, entered a new round of mobilization on their fourth day, with demands directly targeting insufficient education funding. According to France 24, on Thursday, October 8, riot police deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators at the Place de la Bastille in Paris. On the same day, news that a minor had suffered a head injury in Marseille was officially confirmed, raising widespread questions about the proportionality of the police use of force.

According to Agence France-Presse, the Marseille prosecutor's office confirmed that a 17-year-old suffered a head injury outside a secondary school in the city on Wednesday, and an investigation has been opened. The day before—Wednesday, October 7—the French government announced a suspension of the use of stun grenades, citing an incident in which a 15-year-old had his hand blown off in a clash with riot police. France 24 pointed out that this serious injury came as the student protests entered their second week, with heavy police equipment deployed against a largely teenage protest demographic.

Against the backdrop of controversy over the police response, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended police actions in a televised address, denying that law enforcement had been instructed to crack down on teenage protesters. However, Lecornu made these remarks on the very same day as the two incidents in which the 15-year-old's hand was blown off and the 17-year-old suffered a head injury, leaving an obvious tension between his denials and the facts.

In contrast to the hardline police stance, the education authorities adopted a conciliatory posture. French Education Minister Édouard Geffray pledged to deploy 3,000 substitute teachers within "the coming days" to alleviate the high school staffing crisis. According to France 24, student leaders have called for a new round of demonstrations on Thursday, and several teachers' unions have also called for a nationwide strike, indicating that the structural problems underlying this crisis are far from resolved by government statements. The deployment timetable and funding sources for the 3,000 substitute teachers have yet to be clarified, and whether this can truly address the long-accumulated underinvestment in education remains highly uncertain.