French school protesters dragged away by parents in humiliating videos

DAILYMAIL.COM • 1d ago

By ISABELLA MACHIN, REPORTER 13:57 07 Oct 2026, updated 13:57 07 Oct 2026

Schoolchildren rioting in protests that have sent shockwaves across France were forced into an embarrassing climbdown after being dragged away by their parents.

France has suffered days of disorder and violence sparked by failing school conditions, with riot police clashing with hundreds of thousands of rioters in towns and cities across the country.

Dramatic scenes saw riot police in full body armour pushing back balaclava-clad demonstrators as they dodged a barrage of stones and rocks, with officers deploying tear gas and pepper spray in a bid to disperse the crowds.

But while fear of the State may be fading, fear of their parents remains. Videos have emerged showing furious mothers and fathers reprimanding their rioting children and hauling them away from the unrest.

In one clip, a seething mother can be seen getting out of her car and sprinting towards her son as smoke billows in the background.

The mother grabs her child with her left hand, leaving her right hand free to whack him on the back while forcing him towards the vehicle. The parent then bundles her son, who towers over her, into it.

In a separate video, a mother clutches onto her disgruntled daughters clothes and pulls her through the crowds of pupils at a school blockade.

The fuming daughter resists and stands still but eventually gives in after making eye contact with her enraged parent.

Elsewhere, a father was captured calmly ushering his son away from the protesting students, steering him by the back of the neck.

Screams can be heard in the background of the video, captioned ‘a fair-haired, white father is coming to pick up his son’, while officers blockade the street ahead.

Some 256,000 people are predicted to have taken to the country’s streets yesterday, France’s interior ministry said, as students joined arms with demonstrators from the country’s powerful trade unions.

This included far-Left mayor of Saint-Denis, a poor Paris suburb, who was severely scrutinised after praising student rioters – and joined the front lines of the protest.

The mayor, who belongs to the La France Insoumise (LFI) party, drew criticism last week for claiming: ‘Violence can become legitimate at a certain point.’

Officials reported 488 arrests during the day, while lessons in 891 of France’s 3,700 lycees were completely or partly suspended.

The violent clashes have sparked a string of harrowing incidents, including one in which a 15-year-old protester had their hand blown off by a stun grenade.

Amid mounting allegations of police brutality, officials today announced they would stop firing stun grenades at protesting students.

But Sebastien Lecornu, France’s prime minister, rejected accusations of ‘police repression’ during a tense parliamentary session on Tuesday where he accused the leader of LFI Jean-Luc Melenchon of intentionally fuelling unrest.

This comes as officials announced one police officer has been charged over a separate incident where a 14-year-old student was struck in the face by a tear-gas grenade launched at close range. He lost several teeth.

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy had been arrested on Monday for allegedly taking part in a gang attack of a policewoman in Paris.

Students have been protesting failing school conditions for weeks. But discontent boiled over last week into violent clashes with police across hundreds of campuses.

Protesters walked out complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

The demonstrations quickly turned into pupils lighting dustbin fires, torching bus shelters and clashing with riot police, who have in turn responded with batons, tear gas and riot-control rounds.

The government ordered schools to halt lesson time until Friday for ‘internal democracy’.

But student unions remain doubtful and have called for blockades to continue until Wednesday. An ‘Act IV’ of nationwide protests has also been ordered on Thursday.

READ MORE: Student union warns France riots ‘WILL intensify’ if they are ‘not listened to’ despite days of violent clashes and 256,000 taking to the streets on Tuesday alone

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