This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

B.C. Teachers' Strike Song Written By Frustrated Grade 11 Student

WATCH: Singing Out Teachers' Strike Frustrations

A song written and performed by a 16-year-old student about the B.C. teachers' strike is burning up Facebook.

Hailey Klein, who should be in Grade 11 at Maple Ridge's Garibaldi Secondary School, sings about her frustrations with the labour dispute, while playing her guitar. Her song includes the verse:

I don't want to live in a century that thinks we can learn off technology

Let's fire all the teachers, give a kid a computer, and hope they turn out all right

Or let's just load the classes up even more so we can barely close the door

Saving green, fulfilling greed, to buy more things we don't need.

Klein said she hopes her song will get the provincial government's attention so politicians can see how the contract dispute is affecting students.

"I wrote [the song] because I think it is ridiculous and [the strike] shouldn't be allowed to impact the children who haven't asked for this to happen. We had no say and are being treated like we aren't important by the government," she told The Huffington Post B.C. in an email.

Klein is the lead in a school musical and rehearsals are being cut back because students are not allowed into the building to practice. "[It] will put a lot of stress on me because now I have a smaller time limit to learn lines, dances, songs, blocking, everything. And on top of that, [I will] have school work and possibly longer days," she said.

She added that she's also worried about her grades this year.

Klein posted a video of her performing the song (watch above) to Facebook, where it's being shared widely.

Public school teachers in B.C. have been on strike since late June. The current school year has already been delayed by two weeks, and counting.

A veteran mediator has pronounced the two sides too far apart to wrangle a deal.

Both the government and union have attempted to get concessions from the other over the past two weeks as the power struggle has played out through the media.

With files from The Canadian Press

Lyrics of Haley Klein's song

So you're tryin' to make the teachers look bad

But can't you just stop, it's kinda sad

And I don't want to put up with it, I'm tired of our government

Where does all our taxes go?

A bit for the roads and the rest out the window

Do they even care about what we want cuz I'm pretty sure they do not

They've lost the court twice but still won't open their eyes

But they don't go to school so I guess who could blame them

Like, who cares what we're going through.

I don't want to live in a century that thinks we can learn off technology

Let's fire all the teachers, give a kid a computer, and hope they turn out all right

Or let's just load the classes up even more so we can barely close the door

Saving green, fulfilling greed, to buy more things we don't need.

Well I'm literally doing nothing but sitting here

Cuz I'm not sure if schools gonna start tomorrow or in a year

But if you're under 12, you are making 40 a day

Well I'm not even racking in that pay

But hey wouldn't it be cheaper to give a raise, than pay a billion kids a day

Hmm didn't think that through, there's more children, the teachers you're giving more than you need to

But we have written rights that you're pushing aside

And that's why teachers are standing at the picket line

Chorus

Bridge

Well my education is at stake cuz the government took my right away the right to learn

But I cant learn with provincials are in a week and the teachers can't speak

I don't know everything but I know there's more than what's on the news

It's not anyone but us that are getting abused and used, confused

But there's nothing I can do

I don't want to live in a century that thinks we can learn off technology

It hurts my eyes I think I'm going blind

Most times I need a teacher right my my side

Sometimes I put up my hand and I might as well put it back down

Cuz it's a 20-minute wait and what I'm trying to say is stop kicking them out we need them around.

A computer don't know my name

A computer wont help me

A computer wont fix a falling grade

A computer don't care

A computer don't care

We need them there

Our government might as well be a flipping computer.

EARLIER ON HUFFPOST:

'First Day Of School' For B.C. Public Students, 2014

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.