MENOMONEE FALLS, WI - Thousands of students skip school each year and it isn’t just to play hooky.
Bullying is now one of the leading issues keeping students out of the classroom, but a local group is doing its part to bring bullying to an end —especially now during National Bullying Prevention Month.
“[For] kids my age, it’s hard to see people be different,” Franki Moscato.
At just 16-year-old, Moscato’s difference is what landed her a role on the main stage —performing across the country and even at area middle schools. In this role she also encourages students to step in, take action, and become “upstanders” when bullying is happening in their school.
“I’m just going to do everything that I can to touch their hearts and inspire them, and if they see bullying they just stop it immediately. If they see it, [they should] do something immediately, don’t let the cancer grow,” Moscato said.
Moscato and a local group, Generations Against Bullying (GAB), are tackling the issue of bullying in schools head-on. James Dean, spokesperson for the group said suicide in response to bullying or bullycide is one of the leading cases of death in middle school age kids.
“We know six-year-olds that have taken their life because of the bullying issue. How does a six-year-old come to the conclusion that life is so bad that there’s no end to this?" Dean asked.
GAB reports 30 percent of students across the country admit to bullying and 70 percent say they’ve witnessed bullying —that’s why Dean considers students at North Middle School in Menomonee Falls a prime audience for the program. He said they can be the force that brings this issue to an end.
For more information on GAB click here.
