What France's Student Uprising Has Cost the Government So Far: Grenades, Billions, and a Prime-Time Address

A line of riot police with protective shields faces a burning barricade as thick smoke rises in a Paris street during a high school student demonstration on October 6 2026. The scene documents the police deployment and a fire during a protest linked to public education.Une ligne de policiers en tenue anti emeute avec des boucliers fait face a une barricade en feu tandis qu une epaisse fumee monte dans une rue de Paris lors d une manifestation lyceene le 6 octobre 2026. La scene documente le deploiement policier et un incendie pendant une manifestation liee a l enseignement public. (Credit: Photo by Djoudi Hamani / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)

Two teenagers severely injured in under a week. A prime minister forced onto national television. A stun grenade ban for schools. France's student protest crisis entered its fourth act on Thursday with fresh blockades at hundreds of institutions and a simultaneous teacher walkout — even as the government rushed to demonstrate it was listening.

A Second Young Person Pays a Serious Price