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The wave of demonstrations began at high schools last month, when teenagers walked out of the classroom to protest teacher shortages and crumbling schools. The movement has become a lightning rod for public discontent over inequality and the cost of living.
Heavy-handed police tactics have increased the anger. One adolescent lost an eye to rubber bullets, and another's hand was blown off by a stun grenade.
Why do French unions join student protests?
French unions and students have a long history of acting together. In May 1968, a student uprising in Paris grew into a general strike involving roughly 10 million workers, and it shook the government of President Charles de Gaulle. In 2006, students and unions together protested a youth employment contract until the government withdrew it in April of that year.
Why do rubber bullets cause such serious injuries?
Rubber projectiles are sold as less lethal, but a hard rubber or plastic projectile fired at speed delivers its force to a very small area. The eyes and head are the most vulnerable targets. A 2017 systematic review in BMJ Open covered 1,984 injured people across 26 studies on kinetic impact projectiles and found 53 deaths and 300 cases of permanent disability.
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