I do think the images you see on US media will often be the worst from what may be largely peaceful protests. When my son was in Jordan the fall after the Arab spring there were protests every Friday. Occassionally they got a little out of hand. The students in the program were told to stay away from the downtown. They did come close to closing the program at one point - I honestly can’t remember if that was when Israel and Syria decided to lob missiles at each other or when there was a death a some protest in another city. Anyway it turned out they had an evacuation plan in place. (Obviously a study abroad is a little different from attending a local university.) My point is mainly that if your kid is careful, he will very likely be fine. But it’s scary to be the parent with limited information. Hugs.