'We want our voices to be heard' - children in France tell us how protests are affecting them

Children in France have been telling Newsround how the protests over poor school conditions have been affecting them.

There have been demonstrations over several weeks across the country and hundreds of schools have been closed.

Teenagers aged 15-18 years old, from upper-level secondary school called lycées, say they are unhappy about overcrowded classrooms, shortage of teachers and a lack of money for schools.

The protests have affected children of all ages.

Around 200 schools are closed across France and the country's Education Minister has said around a third of France's 3,700 lycées – high schools for students aged 15 to 18 - had been strongly affected by the protests.

Siblings Olive, 14, and Gabriel, 16, live in Lyon and described how their schools have been affected.

Olive, who goes to middle school or le collège said: "Every time we go past [the lycée] there's barriers blocking the entrance and sometimes even police."

Gabriel told Newsround his school had been closed for two weeks. He said on the first day of the blockade, the entrance was blocked by bins and barriers.

"Protesters from my school and other schools were present. People were creating chaos and since then my school has tried reopening a few times with no success."

Thousands of people have been arrested, most of whom are under the age of 18, since the protests began.

There have been frequent clashes between protesters and police.

Demonstrators have complained about some of the tactics used by police such as spraying tear gas, a substance which causes a burning sensation in the eyes and sometimes difficulty breathing.

Although the demonstrations are about schools for pupils aged 15 and older, younger children have told Newsround they are also impacted by the protests.

Fourteen-year-old year Finn from Bréziers, in southeastern France, originally got in touch with BBC's Your Voice.

He told Newsround how he got caught in a protest on his way to school.

"We decided we would try to get to our school by walking round the protest, but the streets were still filled with smoke so we decided it was a bad idea so I got the bus back home."

Maya, 10, Thomas, 14, and Stanley, 16, live in Paris where hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets on Tuesday.

Maya said: "We can't protest because we are too young but it does affect us because we can't go out to the cinema, we can't go out swimming".

Sixteen-year-old Stanley said he had taken part in some of the protests before.

He mentioned some of the issues which pupils are raising.

"We have many problems, loads of teachers who are absent... We also start at 8 in the morning and finish at 6pm."

Finn said: "Teachers in my school and all over France are never really there because they don't supply substitutes."

The French government has responded to some of the demands with a promise of 3,000 extra supply teachers.

President Emmanuel Macron has said that, while many student have real concerns, violence at protests is not acceptable.

The French President has asked the government to come up with "concrete responses" within weeks, a spokeswoman told reporters.

In Lyon, Olivia told Newsround: "I think the blockade has got a bit out of hand and that a lot of students take part in the blockade only to block schools even longer but not for an actual cause."

Back in Paris, 16-year-old Stanley said what he hoped would happen.

"We want our voices to be heard so we can change our problems and fix them together."