Teen Suicide: 14yo Takes her Own Life after Receiving Taunting Text Message

Trigger content: This article discusses teen suicide, bullying and assault.

Adriana Kuch was just 14 years old when she was pushed over the edge by four girls in her school.

First, Adriana was assaulted in the school hallway. Then the video of the assault was uploaded to social media. She then received a taunting text message about her being beaten up which led to Adriana’s tragic decision to take her own life.

Now, Adriana’s heartbroken dad has shared what happened, asking the school to take action to prevent this from happening again.

Attacked in the school hallway

The assault took place at Central Regional High School in New Jersey on 1 February 2023, two days prior to Adriana ending her life.

According to Adrian’s dad, Michael Kuch, the attack occurred due to the girls being jealous of his daughter’s friendship with another girl. Adriana had never been in a fight before and “loved everyone”.

Adriana Kuch - victim of bullying and teen suicide — Source: Facebook

In the distressing footage, Adriana can be seen being attacked with a water bottle as she walked in the hallway with her boyfriend. A person was reportedly heard yelling, “That’s what you get, you stupid a**e b***h!”

According to Michael, Adriana ended up blacking out after the attack but the school didn’t call an ambulance and instead took her to the nurse’s office.

Bullying filmed and circulated on social media

Someone then filmed the attack and uploaded it to TikTok and Snapchat where it spread rapidly.

Adriana was not only in pain but also incredibly embarrassed by the circulating footage.

“She was so embarrassed that they jumped her. She would say, ‘I don’t want to be made fun of’,” the devastated dad told the Daily Mail.

“It was like she was attacked twice. It used to be you’d go to school, get bullied and then you left. But now you come home and you keep getting bullied — they still keep picking at you [at] home.”

After the attack, Adriana stayed home from school.

“We spent time together … she decided that she wanted to go back to school the next day. She went to her boyfriend’s house during the day. I got home at around 5pm.

“We had McDonald’s and I got her favourite, the crispy chicken sandwich. We had dinner, we talked about friends and making life choices.”

Taunting text received

Adriana then received a text message from one of the girls who attacked her, mocking her for “dripping blood” and “getting her a**e whooped.”

Adriana took her own life shortly after receiving this message.

At 5am the next day, Michael’s wife (Adriana’s step mum) went to wake Adriana up. All Michael heard were screams of “no” before he rushed into the room and found his daughter.

She was wearing the same clothes as the day before.

‘How easily this all could have been solved’

According to Michael, the school needs to be held accountable for what happened on its watch.

“I can’t begin to tell you how angry I am at the school, at the police department … The [school] has done nothing. They should not be in charge of our children’s safety.

If they had only just called the police and the girls would have been rounded up there and then, everybody would have seen it was wrong. It pains me how easily this all could have been solved.”

On Thursday, Schools Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides defended the school’s response to the bullying, citing its policy of not reporting incidents to the police.

“We address every incident of bullying, but some of it is on the internet and we aren’t privy to that,” he said. “We’re not the internet police but we don’t put our head in the sand.”

Three girls have since been charged with third-degree felony assault and a fourth was charged with disorderly conduct.

Petition and rally held in Adriana’s honour

After Adriana’s death, over 200 students walked out of class Wednesday to protest and demand further action be taken. More than 6500 community members have also signed on to a petition on Change.org titled “Stop the Violence at Central Regional High School”.

The petition was launched by Racheal O’Dea, who shared that something similar happened to her daughter in January 2022.

“She had reported threats and their previous stalking to the school weeks before it happened and NOTHING was done! The attack was recorded and sent across social media,” Rachael wrote.

She said the family has filed a lawsuit against the district “due to their negligence and involvement”.

“The bottom line is the violence at Central Regional needs to STOP! There needs to be a change in administration, there needs to be more security, the school should not be able to solely label these incidents.

Students do better … stop hurting each other and if you see someone being hurt call 911! It is not a fight, it is not an altercation, it’s not a hallway disturbance …. IT’S CALLED ASSAULT.”

Enough is enough

Despite the warning signs, the promises from schools, and the assurance that bullying is not tolerated online, children are being bullied every single day. As parents, try to keep the lines of communication with your children open – this is the best way for us to be aware that bullying is happening.

The world of bullying is a scary one and all too often a silent one. As parents, we need to be aware of what’s happening at school as this can often be behind a child’s behaviour at home too.