“They seek to terrorise the youth”: on 17 October, 110,000 young people in the streets — and France responds with 2,400 arrests

N. Rochat — Genève, Suisse — 2026-10-21

The cry, and what it covers

“They seek to terrorise the youth.” That is the title of a video by Jean-Pierre Mercier, a Lutte ouvrière activist. The cry starts from a simple observation: in France, since the beginning of October, a youth has taken to the streets to demand the right to study decently — and the state responds with force.

The demands, first

What the school students are asking for: the end of Parcoursup, emergency investment in education, schools where the ceilings no longer collapse and where there are teachers. The cost of living, too. Nothing subversive: the right to study. “We take no pleasure in blocking a school; our aim is to study. But we do it to make ourselves heard.”

17 October, the convergence

On 17 October 2026, the anger exploded: more than 110,000 people in Paris. School students, university students, trade unions, Yellow Vests — all together. The convergence of struggles. A movement born in the schools, now national.

The state's response: violence

And the response? 2,400 people arrested, 855 of them in Paris. Police operations that were “particularly brutal”. And the clearest decision from the executive: “arming the CRS even more to repress us”, as one Vincennes student puts it. “The only response to our demands is violence.”

The voice of the young

A school student from Montreuil says it better than all the editorials: “For us there are three kinds of violence. The first is the violence of the state. Then there is ours, because we are angry, and I find it legitimate. And finally there is the repressive violence of the police.” The order matters: the first violence is the state's.

Terrorism, turned around

France talks endlessly about “terrorism” to justify its laws. But when 110,000 young people take to the streets to demand the right to study, and the answer is 2,400 arrests and armed CRS, the word has changed sides. Terrorising the youth is not a turn of phrase: since 17 October it is the policy of the French government. The cry of Lutte ouvrière, for its part, has become self-evident.

📚 BIBLIOGRAPHY (rule no. 19)

1. NVO (Auriane Lebert), “The only response to our demands is violence: at the heart of the 17 October Paris protest”, 20 October 2026 — https://nvo.fr/la-seule-reponse-a-nos-demandes-cest-la-violence-au-coeur-de-la-manif-parisienne-du-17-octobre/

2. Franceinfo, “17 October mobilisation: the call for a convergence of struggles” — https://www.franceinfo.fr/societe/mobilisation-du-17-octobre/

3. actu.fr, “17 October will be big: school students prepare for the convergence of struggles” — https://actu.fr/societe/le-17-octobre-ce-sera-un-gros-truc-les-lyceens-se-preparent-a-la-convergence-des-luttes-au-1er-jour-des-vacances_64921030.html

4. Jean-Pierre Mercier (Lutte ouvrière), “They seek to TERRORISE the YOUTH”, YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iIMizTcy0i8

⚠️ Published reservations. (1) Figures (110,000 demonstrators, 2,400 arrests, 855 in Paris, ~3,000 businesses) taken from the press (NVO, Franceinfo). (2) The Lutte ouvrière video was consulted through its title and its author; its full content has not been viewed. (3) The article reports on the movement and the repression, not a call to violence.