Bally Bagayoko, mayor of the northern Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, received eye drops from supporters after being caught in a riot police charge on Tuesday, local time.
Footage published by Reuters showed Mr Bagayoko receiving treatment while students chanted his name. In an interview with Reuters, the mayor said he had put himself between police and students to protect both groups.
"There was a moment when they decided to charge, and so I put myself in the middle, both to protect [others] and to ask them to stop," he said.
Another video, captured by a freelance journalist and published by CNN and The Guardian, showed Mr Bagayoko asking riot police to "stop" while standing between them and masked students.
Mr Bagayoko said the high school students he sought to protect "could be my children" and that it was "my responsibility to be at their side".
The protests, which began in September, were sparked by complaints about overcrowded and unsanitary classrooms, teacher shortages and unequal opportunities. They started in marginalised suburbs and have spread across France.
Poverty levels in Saint-Denis, one of the first protest sites, are more than double the national average.
Students' demands include ensuring absent teachers are replaced, repairing aging school buildings, reviewing the length of the 8am to 6pm school day and introducing longer lunch breaks.
In an address on Wednesday local time, French Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu acknowledged the "legitimate" demands of the students but described the demonstrations as the "most violent student demonstrations in decades".
More than 6,000 arrests have been made since the protests began, and at least 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured. A 15-year-old student had his hand blown off after picking up a police sting grenade in the northern town of Lens.
The use of sting grenades in the demonstrations was suspended by authorities shortly after the incident. Police have opened 18 internal investigations into conduct during demonstrations.
Mr Bagayoko said the response to the protests should be political rather than relying on police.
"The state allocates fewer resources for working-class neighbourhoods than the affluent Parisian neighbourhoods," he said. "That is an incontestable reality."