France has temporarily suspended police use of stun grenades during the country’s student protest movement after a 15-year-old boy lost his hand during a confrontation with riot police.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the grenades would not be used against high-school demonstrations until investigators had established what happened in Lens, northern France, on Monday.
Nuñez said there was a “strong possibility” that the firing of a police stun grenade caused the teenager’s injury. The precise circumstances remain under investigation, including how the explosive device came into contact with him. The minister’s assessment should therefore be attributed and not presented as a completed investigative finding.
The suspension represents a material change in the government’s response to more than two weeks of protests over deteriorating school conditions. Students have complained about teacher shortages, overcrowded timetables, ageing buildings and insufficient education funding.
Nuñez also said 18 incidents connected with the demonstrations had been referred to France’s national police inspectorate. Rights organisations, students and opposition politicians have accused officers of using disproportionate force, while authorities say police have faced violence and projectiles during some confrontations.
The protests continued on Wednesday, with more than 500 schools reported closed. Further street demonstrations were planned, and the CGT trade-union federation said it would support another student-led mobilisation on Thursday.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has acknowledged what he called the students’ legitimate demands. He has also described the unrest as France’s most violent student demonstrations in decades.
The dispute has been intensified by evidence of declining educational performance. According to OECD rankings cited by Reuters, the reading score of French 15-year-olds fell by 43 points between 2015 and 2025—the largest decline recorded among OECD members over that period. France’s mathematics score also registered the biggest fall.
Addressing the protesters’ demands may be difficult for a government already under pressure to reduce public debt while economic growth remains weak. Additional education spending would compete with the administration’s efforts to control the national budget.
The crisis also has a growing political dimension. France is six months from a presidential election in which parties on the far right and hard left are leading contenders to succeed Emmanuel Macron. The government’s handling of young demonstrators, school funding and allegations of police violence could influence the campaign.
Education unrest is not limited to France. Students in parts of Belgium have organised similar actions, while at least 107 people have reportedly been arrested in connection with demonstrations in Liège. Teachers in Portugal have been refusing unpaid work beyond their legally mandated hours, and unions in Madrid have called a strike for October 14 over working hours, class sizes and pay.
The French suspension applies specifically to stun grenades used in connection with the high-school protest movement. It should not be reported as a permanent nationwide ban on the weapon.
The teenager’s injury is confirmed, as is the minister’s suspension order. However, responsibility for the precise circumstances of the Lens incident remains under investigation. No authenticated public footage showing the grenade discharge and the moment of injury was identified in the material reviewed.
