Teens block high schools across France, demand better conditions

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: © France 24 05:15 Issued on: 01/10/2026 - 17:25Modified: 01/10/2026 - 17:36 France's prime minister convened a crisis meeting on Thursday and canceled ministers' trips to focus on the nationwide spread of protests, some violent, by high school students venting against under-resourced schools, long hours and other complaints. The demonstrations erupted in Paris-region schools last week and have snowballed, with police making hundreds of arrests in clashes with the young protesters. FRANCE 24's International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley tells us more.