Painted signs and trash bins have become a visual lexicon of resistance as protesters call for educational reform and an immediate end to police violence. Students in France are approaching their third week of protests over a host of ills in the country’s education system, spanning dilapidated infrastructure, teacher shortages, underfunding, and overburdened schedules. What began as a protest at one underdeveloped high school in Paris last month has surged into nationwide strikes including students, staff, parents, and activists, with more than 6,000 arrested, the overwhelming majority of whom are minors, according to France’s interior ministry.

As the French government begins considering negotiations with students, police have brutalized and injured demonstrators at many protests. Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko was tear-gassed while blockading students from riot police, a 15-year-old’s hand was blown off by a police stun grenade (a weapon that has since been suspended by the interior ministry), and over 215 teenagers and 85 school staff have been injured since the protests began, according to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

Activists hoisting painted cardboard signs alongside the French flag have become common sights across the nation, creating a visual lexicon of resistance. Much like water jugs became a symbol of student solidarity with Gaza in colleges across the United States, flaming trash cans have become strategic and emblematic blockades to school entrances across France, from the nation’s smallest suburbs to the heart of Paris. See some of the most striking photographs from the historic demonstrations, alongside protest art and placards calling for urgent education reform and an immediate end to police violence.