Teen recalls ‘humiliating’ bullying at Adriana Cooch High School in New Jersey

A former high school student in New Jersey, where Adriana Cooch was allegedly bullied before taking her own life earlier this month, shares her own “humiliating” experience as her family takes the county to court.

“When I was a freshman, I was physically abused at the same school, as well as humiliated and bullied,” sophomore Olivia O’Dea told CBS2 this week of her time at Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township.

Olivia told the publication that in January 2022 she was attacked by two classmates at school and a video of the incident was posted online.

Her experience is horrifyingly similar to that of 14-year-old Adriana, who committed suicide on February 3, two days after she was beaten in a school hallway, and footage of the confrontation circulated online.

Adriana’s death caused widespread outcry over the school district’s failure to address rampant bullying at the school.

Repeated criticism from Adriana’s family and student protests last week prompted Superintendent Triantafyllos Parlapanidis to step down abruptly over the weekend.

The four girls allegedly involved in the attack on Adriana initially got away with it and were also charged with various offenses last week, including aggravated assault.

“It’s a parody [the bullying is] continues,” Olivia’s mother, Rachel O’Dea, told NJ Advance Media of Adriana’s death.

O’Dea claims that CRHS did not call authorities when her own daughter was attacked. She subsequently removed Olivia from the school and filed a lawsuit on her behalf against the Central Regional School District in October 2022.

“No responsibility [from the school], no change occurs. This is not news to them,” she complained.

According to NJ Advance Media, the family’s civil lawsuit alleges that another student threatened Olivia via text message before she was attacked in the hallway.

She reportedly shared disturbing messages with a teacher, school psychologist and administrators, but no action was taken.

“This is happening in other areas as well. But there is a real pattern to this happening at this particular school, and this should never have happened to this young girl,” O’Dea’s attorney, Jonathan Ettman, told the publication.

Ettman’s description of CRHS fits exactly with online claims following Adriana’s suicide that administrators’ complacency exacerbated the school’s serious bullying problem.

“As a teacher and parent there who faced severe bullying, we often begged the administration to take control of the situation, and only one of them ever tried,” former teacher Daniel Keyser wrote in a Facebook post.

“They were notorious for cleaning things under the rug.”

Ettman added that the prevalence of social media brings a new and disturbing element to bully culture.

“Now we live in a time when everything is filmed and posted on the Internet. It changed the face of bullying,” he told CBS.

While Berkeley Township officials have reportedly vowed to step up a zero-tolerance policy on high school bullying, Adriana’s father, Michael, has previously said he won’t be satisfied until the entire neighborhood is revamped.

“I want this whole administration to go,” he told The Post on Saturday.

“We just want the school to start changing and taking responsibility,” added Adriana’s sister-in-law Jennifer Ferro.