Hope Coenen was born with no fingers on her left-hand.

"They've called me a one-handed freak,” she said.

She feels normal, but the Clio High School freshman tries every day to brush off the hurtful whispers she hears.

"I get rid of the feeling until I get home, then I hide out in my room, and cry,” Coenen said.

That pain is why more than a hundred local educators are working to draft anti-bullying policies

21 districts are involved, all taking part in workshops.  They’re learning what legal actions they can take and how to define and recognize it..

"We need to be vigilant on every front, not just on one particular spot,” said Mary Behm, assistant superintendent at Genesee Intermediate School District.

School administrators also have to empower students to speak up.

"It's awfully difficult to fix something that we're not aware of,” said Michael Lytle, principal at Clio High School, “and we can't approach something we're not aware of."

For Hope, it's a daily challenge - one that may rest on education, both at school and at home.

"They've not accepted the fact I was born this way, they don't understand,” Coenen said.