New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- In a country beset by crises - both foreign and domestic - the eruption and rapid spread of protests by unhappy teenage high schoolers caught France off guard.

Friday brought more of the scenes that have dominated streets this week: vandalism, garbage fires, teens confronting and taunting police. Officers charging, firing tear gas and making more arrests. By early afternoon, the education ministry reported protests impacting 560 schools.

Taking grievances to France's streets has long been a rite of passage in the country that spawned the French Revolution of 1789. To name just a few, there were the student protests in 1968, weeks of suburban unrest in 2005 and demonstrations in 2023 against pension reforms.

The stu...