Published on September 30, 2026 by the New Anticapitalist Party—Revolutionaries in France (translated from French)
In about ten days, the wave of anger in high schools has spread from the Paris region to the entire country. The frustration expressed by high school students in Créteil initially sparked a response among other students in the Paris suburbs—from Saint-Denis to Sarcelles, via Drancy—before experiencing explosive growth in Paris, Bordeaux, Tours, Besançon, Nice, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Lille, and elsewhere, in both general high schools and vocational schools. On Monday, September 28, the government reported that 180 high schools were blockaded; by the next day, the number had risen to more than 400.
Macron Fears for His “Social Peace”
The government is seeking to nip the high school student movement in the bud: it is sending its police to attack teenagers with batons, tear gas, and rubber bullets, going so far as to break the teeth of 14-year-old students in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône and in Lille. Thousands of high school students are discovering what the “republican school system” does not teach them: the police, the armed wing of the state, are the tool of the ruling classes to maintain the status quo and capitalist exploitation, which creates a two-tiered school system, mirroring this society.
Through their violence and its media coverage, [French President] Macron and his police are seeking to intimidate those who might wish to join the protests—both high school students and the rest of the population—in the hope of warding off the specter of a “widespread social movement.” They haven’t forgotten that the last time high school students from working-class neighborhoods mobilized, the Yellow Vests were quick to join the protests. We haven’t forgotten that either.
The government is trying to flex its muscle by arresting hundreds of high school students in the space of a few days. But here and there, students are managing to stand up to the state’s thugs. At Paul-Éluard High School (Saint-Denis, in the Paris suburbs), teachers and teaching assistants formed a human chain to protect their students. At Paul-Robert High School (Les Lilas), students are circumventing police interventions against roadblocks by organizing a class boycott: the school gates are open, but no one is going in!
Mobilization can take a thousand and one forms, from setting up checkpoints to organizing a general assembly in the courtyard, to walkouts and demonstrations right inside the school. In the face of repression, we must turn out in large numbers and spread the mobilization everywhere. High school students must not stand alone in front of their school gates: parents, teachers, and workers must stand alongside the rebellious youth!
Major newspapers like Le Monde write that high school students are “getting carried away” under the “influence of social media.” The government and the far right claim that the mobilized high school students are being “manipulated” by La France Insoumise (a left political party). As if young people were incapable of thinking for themselves. Why are they fighting together? Because they face the same problems, share the same anger, and have the same interests!
No “school-by-school” solution is possible
Whether in Nangis or Villiers-le-Bel , some principals are trying to play the “dialogue” card. The signal comes from the top: on X, the Minister of Education called for addressing the issues “school by school.” So they promise meetings, try to recruit student representatives, invoke the Student Councils (which, of course, have no decision-making power), or summon a handful of “protesters” to “discuss” the issues—because they’re deeply uncomfortable at the thought of facing 200 high school students! But behind all this, there is nothing—or only empty promises—because they don’t have the money to make [the promises] a reality anyway.
There is nothing to negotiate, and certainly not on an individual basis: this is solely intended to wear down and divide the movement. We shouldn’t be talking to the principals, but to our classmates—convincing those who haven’t yet joined the movement. We must collectively decide on our strategies and demands in a general assembly and figure out how to get even more high schools involved! That’s the only way to win our demands.
Unity is strength; organization multiplies it tenfold
High school after high school, Snapchat groups are forming to organize upcoming rallies—such as the one on October 1—without necessarily being connected to one another. Yet it is our numbers and our organization that will enable us to win.
In various cities, such as Paris, the September 29 demonstrations provided an opportunity for students from different high schools to connect and form joint marches. In Paris and Lille, initial coordination efforts took place: in each of these two metropolitan areas, about fifty high school students from some twenty schools came together and called for a new national day of mobilization on Tuesday, October 6.
If it manages to take root and spread, the high school students’ anger could spread like wildfire and draw in other sectors of the working class: the government fears this, so we must work towards making this happen.
The reasons for the anger
High school students experience firsthand the glaring gap between the myth of “equal opportunity” and the reality. The republican school system mirrors capitalist society, divided into opposing social classes: the rich have all the resources, and the poor make do with the crumbs.
How outrageous it is when the government implements social selection through Parcoursup (the French national web platform for college admission) starting with university admission, yet your school can’t even provide you with a math or French teacher during your senior year. How outrageous it is when the administration chooses to invest up to 600,000 euros (almost $700,000) in surveillance cameras but not in toilet paper. Classrooms leak, freeze in the winter, and overheat in the summer, yet the priority is measuring the length of high school girls’ skirts. These political choices are outrageous when you consider defense budgets or the billions earned by corporate executives. The government and the far right accuse high school students of vandalizing their schools, but it is they who are destroying our education!
Those who are fighting today are doing so for their future. Slogans against the far right and racism, against police violence and wealth inequality, are flourishing on their signs. This generation sees militarism gaining ground and France supporting the genocide in Palestine, and it rejects the future that capitalists are mapping out for it—as cannon fodder or corporate pawns.
They reject mindless discipline—whether it’s the ban on cell phones, “8 a.m.–6 p.m.” schedules, or 20-minute meal breaks—which serve only to accustom them to, or even train them in, the schedules and discipline of exploitation.
In the face of their capitalist society and the future of misery they have in store for us, let’s step up the mobilization!
