Thousands of high school students across Montreal's West Island walked out of class Wednesday morning to protest the ongoing contract dispute between teachers and the provincial government.

Students say they are upset about being caught in the middle of negotiations.

As part of their 'work to rule' actions, teachers have abandoned extracurricular activities such as coaching sports team, supervising field trips, or school dances.

Many students say they support teachers, but oppose losing out on activities as a result of job action.

Students at 13 schools, all in the West Island, walked out of class at 9 a.m.

At one school many students never showed up at all.

The Lester B. Pearson school board sent students and parents a memo discouraging participation in the walkout, with board officials saying they are specifically concerned about student safety.

On Wednesday morning the parents of one protest organizer said their son had been threatened with suspension by his school's principal.

Most students said they understood why the teachers are doing what they are doing, and they wanted to add their voices as a show of support, and tell the provincial government they also oppose recent cuts to education.

Bradley Schaap, a John Rennie HS student, was one of the organizers.

"We've had all of our extracurriculars taken away from us and it's a bummer to all the students that we can't do our extracurriculars," he said. "But we also want to show our support to our teachers because they are very important to all of our lives. They help us to get to our futures wherever we want to go."

His mother, Alicia, said she is proud of her son for taking part in the rally, because she sees the impact the teachers' actions are having on her children.

"My youngest daughter is in Grade 7 at John Rennie, and she's had all of her activities taken away, and it's a tough entry into school," said Schaap.

At Beaconsfield High School, Harrison Kirshner said he was protesting to support his teachers.

"These are the people who have dedicated their lives to us for the past ten years, and I think that it's time that we give back to them and the government starts listening to them," he said.

"It's not fair that they are one of the lowest-paid government employees. I feel like they should be one of the highest-paid. Because if it wasn't for them our education system would collapse."

Teachers who watched their students walk out of class said they respected the students' choice, especially since they knew there would be consequences.

Brian Swirsky of the Lester B Pearson teachers' union, said students weren't considering this just a chance to play hooky.

"They're looking at this as more than just having extracurriculars taken away from them. They're looking at the state of education, their education, the education for future generations, because that's what's going to power Quebec's economy," said Swirsky.

Students say there are not planning any additional protests.