French high school protests have escalated into "urban violence" this week, leading to significant damage and closures. According to the French education ministry, 100 schools have been severely damaged and 40 headteachers have been injured.
The protests stem from student grievances including overloaded timetables, overcrowded classes, insufficient teachers, and unbearable temperatures during earlier heatwaves. Riot police have been deployed to confront the increasingly violent demonstrations.
The interior ministry reports that nearly 3,000 lycée students, aged 15 to 18, have been detained since the protests began, with 1,949 detentions occurring on Thursday alone. The justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, has urged local prosecutors to pursue civil liability claims to hold parents financially responsible for damage caused by their children. Education minister Édouard Geffray has also appealed to parents for assistance, warning that "children are in danger on the streets."
As of today, 400 schools remain closed, and there are no indications that tensions are decreasing. Damages from this week's protests are likely to reach hundreds of millions of euros, with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region alone reporting 25 million euros in damages.