French student protests continue as teenager suffers severe eye injury

A 16-year-old schoolboy named Mael lost his right eye after being struck by a police rubber bullet during a violent demonstration outside the Lycée Balzac in Tours. The Daily Mail reported that the incident occurred during a morning battle between police and students outside the high school. A neighboring resident, named as Tatiana, described seeing the teenager in severe pain outside the school following the clash. [1]

The incident is part of a broader wave of student demonstrations that began in the Créteil academy in the Paris suburbs and spread across France and parts of Belgium. Hundreds of thousands of students have taken to the streets to protest against staff shortages, missing classroom furniture, and school canteen delays. As FTMQ News reported earlier, demonstrations initially began in late September 2026, forcing up to 500 high schools to close. [1][4][6]

The protests have been marked by rising violence and police interventions across the country. The French Interior Ministry recorded 1,949 arrests related to the student demonstrations on October 1, 2026. In an earlier incident reported by FTMQ News, a 15-year-old boy lost his hand after picking up a police stun grenade during protests in the city of Lens. [6][7]