UM Freshman Bravely Shares Her Story of Being Bullied in Middle School, High School

Southfield (CW50) - Estee Moss, a Freshman at the University of Michigan, has a story that is not unlike many we've heard for years. When she was in middle school and high school, Moss was regularly the targeted because of her religion. Being Jewish, several of her classmates would often joke or make fun of Moss because of this.

During this time, Moss said her struggled at first to recognize that she was being "bullied." She knew she was not being treated kindly, but she did not know the consistent and targeted acts of her classmates was considered "bullying." Through this, she found it hard for her to find her own identity, and was challenged to hold onto her religion.

Today, Moss is in her first year at U of M, and was kind enough and brave enough to share her story with us on this weekend's Community Connect. She also gave some advice to students dealing with bullying, and talked about how schools deal with these situation.

Moss discussed how the school tried their best to discourage bullying through programs and assemblies with organizations like Defeat the Label, but she found that the school's execution of the messages lacked in some areas. But also talked about the challenges of preventing bullying, especially in the age of social media. Social media has brought a rise in cyberbullying, and Moss went into detail of what she's experienced on social media platforms throughout her years in school, including how she personally used them.

Moss called for people to be kind to each other, and expressed how there is no reason that students can't build an environment and culture in schools that is inclusive and removes mistreatment of others from the community. She also encouraged everyone to speak up if they see bullying behavior occurring, because it may make a difference in someone's life if you just speak up.

Watch Community Connect, Saturday at 7am on CW50