the more traditional left tried to step in and co-opt the riots organized by the radical right immigrant movement and while they got some people out on the street for a few days, the size of the protests has come down dramatically. that's a predictable result. if the result of the co-option is that the situation fizzles out then that might be a gift to the status quo.
the reality is that france spends a lot of money on education, but also that the state is threatening substantive cuts. the complaints seen in the english media appear to be disingenuous, in terms of representing the concerns of the students, which don't seem to be financial, exactly. it doesn't seem to be about underfunding, it seems to be more about a cultural perspective that the french education system is too intense. that doesn't seem to be grounded in fact, either.
so, if the reality is that the french system is not too harsh (but is maybe a little too lenient) and the schools aren't underfunded at all but are better funded than almost anywhere in the world, what is going on? why are the middle class white kids marching?
because it's cool. everybody's doing it. it's happening to protest like it's 1968.
or maybe like it's 1848.
but this doesn't present a lot of answers besides looking at the media landscape and asking what these kids are consuming that makes them decide that burning their school down or waving palestinian flags is "cool". the right-wing press wants to blame it on left-wing agitators, but this is the antithesis of historical materialism, and all evidence suggests rank opportunism by a very fake left rather than any legitimate organizing. the real culprit seems to be an internet media landscape that lacks filters or even metrics. you and i don't even know what they're consuming that's got them playing out the revolution and jostling for the next revolutionary beside them for the coolest kid spot in a legitimate attempt to try to get laid.
it really takes the issue out of the hands of the elected class. that is a difference between iran and france, at least for now - nobody's getting shot in france, except the teachers and the police. nobody's going to get sentenced to death. nobody's going to the guillotines. if the issue is a decentralized popular culture that romanticizes islamicist extremism by falsely equating it with leftist uprisings, the democracy has no available solution. you just need to step back and let them tire themselves out, like you do with a toddler throwing a tantrum.
the solution might be to respond through the grading system.
if it's not safe to go back to school, set up pandemic era distance learning for the kids that want to go to class, and let them study. if there's some set of kids that would rather be cool and go to the riot than be good students and go to class then fail them for it.
in the medium term, security may need to be increased to ensure that kids can get to school and students trying to stop them from getting to school or otherwise disrupt the situation may need to be charged with harassment. they can tell the judge they were just trying to be cool.
in the mean time, somebody has to show up and campaign on maintaining education funding. the situation only demonstrates the importance of funding your secondary schools. if france has debt issues due to irresponsible spending, the kids shouldn't be the ones to face the cuts.
clearly, the biggest problem right now in france is runaway military spending, which needs to be addressed.
and regarding the cultural issues, it's important to remember that immature teenagers will grow up and that the education system will help them do that but that not everybody is going to learn and not everybody is going to succeed. some students will fail. some young people will spend much of their lives incarcerated.
the best approach is likely to create counter media that challenges the idea that what the students are doing is sexy or cool and the most likely source of that counter media is the young people themselves. it will need to work itself out, but the system needs to enforce educational and legal consequences in order to make counter examples.
you might remember when smoking was cool. you might likewise remember the wrinkly, toothless 40 year old that got trotted out in the 90s to show the kids what you're going to look like at 45 if you smoke. and that worked; not on everybody, but on a majority. the kids that will need to be failed will need to become the examples of what happens when you're cool and go to the riot instead of going to class.
there's probably not a quick fix to this.