Family of teen who died by suicide after video of her assault was posted online sues school

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Family of teen who died by suicide after video of her assault was posted online sues school
nbcnews.com

Adriana Kuch, 14, was attacked by other students in the hallway of her high school last year. She later died by suicide after video of the assault was posted online.

The family of a New Jersey teenager who died by suicide after video of her being assaulted at her high school was posted online is suing the Board of Education and school officials, their attorneys said Monday.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Adriana Kuch's family against the Central Regional Board of Education and others, alleges that officials were aware of “a culture of violence at Central Regional High School” and failed to protect her, the lawyers said.

Adriana took her own life after she was attacked by at least one other student in her high school last year and after video of the attack was posted online.

The assault and the video “led to her public humiliation and ultimate suicide,” the family lawyers said in a statement.

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A friendly reminder for those in the US: you can dial 988 for access to mental health resources.

As someone who has attempted suicide several times, let me just say that you’ve got nothing to lose by reaching out for help.

Some hotline resources for our international brothers and sisters (courtesy of Psychology Today):

Argentina Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 911
  • Centro de Asistencia al Suicida
    • In the greater Buenos Aires area, dial 135
    • Otherwise, call 5275-1135 or 0800 345 1435

Australia Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 000
  • Lifeline Australia
    • Dial 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support
    • Text 0477 13 11 14 for 24/7 text support

Austria Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency numbers: Dial 112 for emergencies (EU emergency number), 133 for police, 144 for an ambulance, and 122 for the fire brigade
  • Emergency psychiatric hotline: 01 313 30; 24/7 support is available
  • Suicide prevention hotline: 01 713 3374
  • Telefon Seelsorge
    • Dial 142 for 24/7 crisis support
    • For online chat support, visit Telefon Seelsorge's website; available from 4 pm to 11 pm Central European Time

Belgium Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: Dial 112 for emergencies (EU emergency number), 101 for police, and 100 for a medical emergency or the fire brigade
  • Zelfmoord 1813
    • Dial 1813 for 24/7 crisis support
    • For online chat support, visit Zelfmoord's website; available from 5:00 pm to 12:am Central European Time

Canada Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 911
  • Talk Suicide Canada
    • Dial 1-833-456-4566 for 24/7 crisis support
    • Text 45645 for text support; available 4 pm to midnight ET
  • In Quebec:
    • Dial 1-866-APPELLE (277-3553) for 24/7 crisis support
    • Text 535353 for 24/7 text support
    • For 24/7 chat support, visit suicide.ca Kids Help Phone
    • 24/7 text support: Text CONNECT to 686868

Chile Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency numbers: Call 133 for police; call 131 for medical assistance
  • Teléfono de la Esperanza
    • Dial (00 56 42) 22 12 00

Colombia Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 123
  • Teléfono de la esperanza
    • Dial (57-1) 372 24 25
    • In Medellín, dial (57) 604 604 27 84 Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social (Ministry of Health and Social Protection)
    • Visit the website for region-specific suicide hotlines

Denmark Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 112
  • Medical Helpline 1813
    • For emergency medical help in the Capital Region of Denmark, dial 1813 on weekends, or after 4 pm Monday through Friday Livslinien
    • Call the crisis line at 70 201 201 every day.
    • Access online chat on Mondays and Thursdays between 5 pm and 9 pm, and on weekends between 1 pm and 5 pm.
  • Psykiatrifonden
    • Access mental health support every day by calling 39 25 25 25

France Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 112
  • National suicide prevention number: 3114
    • 24/7 crisis support; visit 3114.fr to learn more
  • Suicide Écoute
    • Dial 01 45 39 40 00 for 24/7 crisis support SOS Suicide Phénix
    • Dial 01 40 44 46 45 for phone support between 1 pm and 11 pm Central European Time

Germany Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 112 (EU emergency number), 110 for police
  • Hotline for Emergency Medical Counselling
    • 116 117
  • TelefonSeelsorge
    • Dial 0800 111 0 111 or 0800 111 0 222 for 24/7 crisis support
    • For chat or email support, visit TelefonSeelsorge's website

Hong Kong Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 999
  • The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong
    • For 24/7 support, dial 2389 2222
    • For English-language assistance, dial 2389 2223
    • For online chat help, go to chatpoint.org.hk The Samaritans
    • For 24/7 support, dial 2896 0000

Ireland Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 112 or 999
  • The Samaritans
    • Dial 116 123 for 24/7 mental health support
  • Mental Health Ireland
  • Text About It
    • For 24/7 text support, text 50808
    • On smaller phone networks (such as An Post or 48), text HELLO to 0861800280

Mexico Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 911
  • Consejo Ciudadano
    • Dial 55 5533-5533 for 24/7 crisis support

Netherlands Suicide Prevention Resources

New Zealand Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 111
  • National mental health and addiction hotline: 1737
    • Can be reached by phone or text; learn more at 1737.org.nz Lifeline Aotearoa
    • Dial 0800 543 354 for 24/7 crisis support
    • Dial 0508 828 865 for the suicide crisis helpline
    • Text HELP to 4357 for 24/7 text support

Singapore Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 999 (police) or 995
  • The Samaritans of Singapore
    • Dial 1767 for the 24/7 hotline
    • WhatsApp 9151 1767 for 24/7 text support

South Africa Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency numbers: 10111 (police) or 10177 (ambulance)
  • South African Depression and Anxiety Group
    • Dial 0800 567 567 for 24/7 crisis support

Spain Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency numbers: 112
  • Teléfono de la Esperanza
    • Dial 717 003 717 for 24/7 crisis support

Sweden Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 112
  • Mind Självmordslinjen
    • Dial 90101 for 24/7 phone support; in cases of acute crisis, call 112
    • For online chat support, visit Självmordslinjen's website

Switzerland Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 112 (EU emergency number), 117 for police, 144 for ambulance
  • Die Dargebotene Hand
    • Dial 143 for 24/7 mental health support in German, French, and Italian
    • For help in English, dial 0800 143 000 between 6 pm and 11 pm, or visit heart2heart.143.ch
    • Online chat support is available in German, French, and Italian

United Kingdom Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 999 or 112
  • The Samaritans
    • Dial 116 123 for 24/7 mental health support
  • Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
    • Dial 0800 58 58 58 for crisis support; available between 5 pm and midnight, BST or GMT
    • Visit thecalmzone.net to access chat support
  • Shout
    • Text SHOUT to 85258 for 24/7 text support

United States Suicide Prevention Resources

  • National emergency number: 911
  • Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988
    • Accessible by phone or text
    • 24/7 support in English or Spanish
    • 24/7 support for deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals; learn more at 988lifeline.org. For TTY Users: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988
    • Online chat: Visit 988lifeline.org
  • Crisis Text Line
    • 24/7 text support: Text HOME to 741741

For Germany, you can add 116 117, the hotline for emergency medical counselling. Some people might feel hesitant to call 112, and 116 117 is easier to remember than 0800 1110111 as well as being generally helpful to remember.

That is some valuable resources there. Honestly, maybe you should make this into a post of its own so more people can see it. But either way, thank you!!!

you’ve got nothing to lose by reaching out for help.

Except for when they decide you are at risk and send an ambulance to take you to a hospital for a mental evaluation which consists of 5 flavors of questions that all boil down to "are you sad?". Then, after the hold, you're hit with a multi-thousand dollar ambulance and hospital bill that you have to take care of ON TOP of whatever issues were leading you to consider suicide.

Unless I'm mistaken, they can only put you on a 72-hour hold if they deem you are threat to yourself and others. In other words, don't ever tell them you're going to kill yourself; just that you have thoughts about killing yourself.

100% this, they're not going to take you away and put you in a padded cell because you're depressed.

If you're in-crisis, talk to someone. If you've ever made a plan, remove the things involved in that plan (gun, razor, drugs, etc). The goal is to remove the things that might let you act too rashly or quickly. Bad phases come and go, it's important to remember that the bad will end and try to figure out ways to manage your depression when it escalates.

If this is something that happened to you then I'm sorry for your experience, especially if it dissuaded you from seeking help in the future. The health care system in the us is disgraceful.

As someone who hasn’t ever contemplated suicide but has always been curious about the hotlines, do they just sort of… Tell you not to?

Maybe it’s the autism talking, but if I was in the middle of a mental health crisis, platitudes would sound (at best) dishonest or (at worst) outright condescending. And unless they can point me to some sort of mental healthcare option that I hadn’t already considered/didn’t know about, then it doesn’t sound like they’d be much help. Like if they tell you to go check yourself into a ward, that doesn’t seem like it’d be effective for someone who had already considered and dismissed the idea.

I've never called myself but I've had a friend who did and they told me the person on the other line was really good at talking to her and that alone improved the situation

Sometimes all a person needs is to talk to someone who gives a fuck. Those lines are staffed by unpaid volunteers, they're not doing it for money.