"Diploma, Not Batons": French Students Protest Police Violence and Demand Education Funding

BFMTV: "Diploma, Not Batons"

At student marches, placards against police violence are nearly as common as demands to increase school funding.

"Too young to vote, but old enough for tear gas." Tens of thousands of high school students took to the streets on Tuesday. Signs protesting police brutality were almost as numerous as those calling for more educational resources.

Since the start of protests on September 17, police tactics have been uniformly criticized from Lille to Marseille, via Lyon and Bordeaux.

"Diploma, not batons," said 22-year-old Lisa, who joined the march in Paris.

Parisian high school student Ludivine described law enforcement's conduct as "absolutely terrible." On Monday, a girl standing next to her was hit in the eyebrow by a stun grenade. "They fired tear gas at us several times—it was too much," said the 17-year-old student. She said she was very frightened.