Adriana Kuch’s dad calls school ‘cancer’ as teen was told to stay home after vicious and violent bullying
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
BERKELEY, NEW JERSEY: A grieving father of a teenage girl, who ended her life after allegedly being bullied at school by some girls, has called the school administration a “cancer” after they tried to pin the guilt on the family and smear their reputation. Adriana Kuch's father, Michael, reportedly claimed that he might take legal action against the school as he was in talks with a family lawyer.
Michael added that several lawyers across the nation have approached him too to help him in the case. Speaking to the Daily Mail on Friday, February 10, at the Kuch's visitation at the Mastapeter Memorial Home in Bayville, Michael said that Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township did not suspend the 14-year-old before her death. The school members, instead, asked her not to come since her injuries stemming due to the bullying may cause more problems for her.
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‘Your child isn’t supposed to go before you’
Michael, who lost his daughter on February 3, said, “We can’t stop crying this is the last time I’m ever going to see her. It was not supposed to happen we heard it over and over again your child isn’t supposed to go before you.”
School superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides reportedly gave a completely different story. He reportedly alleged that Kuch's death was not related to bullying but to her own family. He told the publication, “Her father was having an affair at the end of her 6th grade. Her father married the woman he had an affair with and moved her into the house. Her grades and choices declined in 7th and 8th grade. We offered her drug rehab and mental services on five occasions but the father refused every time.”
Refuting Parlapanides’ allegations, Michael said, “What’s insensitive is him going on social media and defending his actions and attacking other people. The administration needs to be completely shaken up and by shaken up I mean they need to be removed. I don’t know why he’s been there that long I have no idea why that man still has a job. I think the superintendent should be charged with obstruction of justice.”
Michael then went on to mention the four girls, who allegedly bullied Adriana just a few days before she killed herself. Though the suspects have been charged and suspended from school, Michael believes that was not enough and they should be expelled. “If my daughter is only worth $23,000 a head to them then because they would lose four students then what is anybody’s kid worth,” he asserted.
‘She was our spitfire’
Meanwhile, Kuch was remembered as a “spitfire” by her sister-in-law Sami Nye, who told Daily Mail, “Adriana to the public, Age to her friends, sissy to her family we love you. The love and joy that you brought to our family will never be forgotten. For those of you who did not know Adriana, she was our spitfire. She was stubborn, funny, and charismatic, and would light up any room she walked into."
Nye continued, “She loved exploring the woods, hanging out with friends, and spending time with her brothers on summer break. She befriended the ones that needed friends the most. Adriana also loved animals and loved trying new hobbies. Losing her has been the most painful thing imaginable we wish that she was still here and wish we could make new experiences with her.”
Nye added, “And cherish new memories. More laughs more moments and more smiles. And even for the debates and disagreements. As those would mean that she was still here. Instead, we are left brokenhearted and wondering what she would have achieved in life if she had a future with us.”
Kuch's other sister-in-law, Jennifer Ferro, shared, “Our family and her parents would describe her as a beautiful girl who was happy, funny, stubborn, strong, loved animals, could make friends easily [and] would draw all time time. 'She loved going on runs with her older brother and our dogs when she came to visit us during the summer, and she always wanted to try out new hobbies... but would get tired of them fast.”
‘It's just disgusting'
Amanda Ramirez, a student’s mother who participated in a protest after Kuch's death, slammed the school and stated, “It was just like swept under the rug they talk about how 'oh if you're fighting there will be consequences' but a kid is gone because nobody did anything. The fact that she was beaten up on school premises, she blacked out, that her parents weren't called, that an ambulance wasn't called… a kid blacked out that is a medical emergency.”
“Her hair was ripped out and on the floor, like it's just disgusting and I hurt because I have a lot of respect for teachers there, but hearing that some of them saying it 'wasn't a big deal' that's, uh, a lot it's just mental health is so serious,” Ramirez added.
Trisha Tucker, whose daughter also faced bullying, told Daily Mail, “My daughter was being bullied from September/October and I'd been to the freshman principal numerous times told me that it was being handled, my daughter went from being an honor roll student to dropping out of marching band to failing her classes and not even wanting to go to school."
“Now she's cutting herself so yeah they don't do a damn thing they don't care about these kids they're going to sweep it under the rug so they aren't embarrassed,” Tucker added.