Students and parents are calling for culture changes at a New Jersey high school a week after a 14-year-old freshman died by suicide.

Adriana Olivia Kuch killed herself on Feb. 3, days after a video of her being attacked by four classmates spread around Central Regional High School in Bayville, her father Michael Kuch told NJ Advance Media.

He is demanding action from the school district, and students on Wednesday staged a walkout to protest bullying, News 12 New Jersey reported.

The school district, the grieving father and fellow students say, hasn’t done enough to curb bullying, especially as suicides are on the rise nationally. The U.S. suicide rate grew by 4% in 2021, including a 7% rise in suicides among people ages 15-24, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I want this out,” Michael Kuch said of the details of his daughter’s assault and bullying, which experts say can be a contributing factor, but is not thought to be a singular cause, of suicide.

“I want them to fix this broken system,” Kuch said.

The video showing an assault of Adriana on school grounds was recorded by student observers and shared widely on social media, Michael Kuch said. The incident lasts less than a minute, according to footage shared with NJ Advance Media.

It shows Adriana walking down a school hallway when a female student approaches her and begins repeatedly hitting her in the face with a water bottle.

Adriana crumples on the floor as the girl continues pulling her hair and punching her head. At least two students off-camera can be heard cheering on the assault.

After about 30 seconds of melee, two school employees rush over to interrupt the assault, which left Adriana bruised and bloodied on the floor, her father said.

Staff at Central Regional High School brought Adriana to the nurse, but did not report the assault to the Berkeley Township Police Department. Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides said that’s in line with school policy.

“We normally just suspend,” Parlapanides told News 12 New Jersey. “If a parent wants to press charges, they can with the police.”

Kuch, who later filed a police report, said school officials did not give him a clear picture of what happened.

“The school lied to me, and covered up how severe my daughter’s assault was,” Kuch said.

Three students connected to the incident have been charged with third degree felony assault and one student with disorderly conduct, News 12 reported.

“The entire district is shaken by the loss of such a young child. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” Parlapanides said in a statement.

Parlapanides did not address accusations that Central Regional High School District failed to intervene in bullying on campus or respond to questions on its handling of the assault and video.

Mayor Carmen F. Amato, Jr. did not respond to requests for comment.

After Wednesday’s protest at the school, all students were dismissed early, according to a notice on the district website.

Getting bullied can be a traumatic event that can unlock feelings of fear and isolation, as well as a lack of belonging, said Maureen Brogan, a licensed professional counselor who leads the Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth at Rutgers University.

Research shows that bullying alone is not thought to cause suicide but can be a contributing factor, she said.

“What we know in the field is that suicide is an extremely complex issue,” said Brogan, who sits on the state’s Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board. “It’s multi-faceted. It’s not one thing causes it, but it is a combination of risk factors.”

School districts in New Jersey reported 18,576 incidents of violence, vandalism, weapons, substance use, and harassment, intimidation and bullying in the 2019-20 school year, according to the latest data from the state Department of Education.

One of six New Jersey high school students, or 16.4%, reported being bullied on school property in 2019, while 13.8% reported being cyberbullied, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System found another 9.1% of New Jersey high school students reported being in a physical fight on school property in 2019, while 7.6% were injured or threatened with a weapon on school property. Tragically, 14.5% of students surveyed said they had seriously considered attempting suicide, and 5.9% reported actually attempting it.