France is the worst-hit country for COVID-19 cases in Europe. But these teens are angry their schools remain open

The sun had barely risen over Paris and already pepper spray filled the air. Students protesting against an alleged lack of COVID-19 protections inside schools were the target of last week’s protest, but anyone nearby could feel the acrid substance in their nostrils. They tried to form a barricade of wheelie bins to block the entrance to their high school, General Lycée Colbert, in northern Paris. But police had prior warning of their plan and tried to snuff out the protest before it had even begun.