In October 2026, France witnessed a powerful wave of protests that began with high-school students demanding better conditions in dilapidated schools and quickly grew into a broader movement against the high cost of living, rising fuel prices, and the collapse of public services. Hundreds of thousands of people—students, workers, parents, and ordinary citizens—took to the streets in cities across the country. What followed was a severe and heavily militarized response by the French state that left many protesters, a large number of them minors, injured, traumatized, and under arrest.
A movement rooted in real grievances
Students had been organizing for weeks against rundown school buildings, teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and falling educational standards. [Read more…]
