this is "nightline." >> tonight, team girls in crisis. a 14-year-old new jersey girl takes her life. >> and i got the phone call saying that your best friend has committed suicide. >> after video of her being bullied and beaten was posted online. >> what hurt adriana was the embarrassment and humiliation. they just kept coming at her. >> it's part of an alarming mental health crisis threatening a generation of teenaged girls. >> every single day, every single week there is a new fight. there is somebody getting attacked. >> the mother on a mission to cancel the cruelty. plus, jane lynch. >> what would madonna do? well, the answer to that

question is usually date a younger man. >> from "glee" to "the marvelous mrs. maisel." >> come work on my show. >> do the warm-up. >> she stays on the grind. waiting for years for her big break. >> i was 50 when it happened. so i wasn't like a kid. >> how she stayed committed despite the hardships. her surprising new project 13 years in the works. and gator tale. how this gator ended up in a lake in new york. >> "nightline" will be right back. when cold symptoms keep you up, try vicks nyquil severe. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst cold and flu symptoms, to help take you from 9 to none. for max-strength nighttime relief, nyquil severe. - (gasps) - geez. jon? idea why - (gasps) we are in a fridge? i'm brie... yeah, i'm jon. so we're brie and...? brie and hamm! and best foods! is that pete davidson? i'm gonna eat you guys. ♪

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good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with the heartbreaking death of a 14-year-old girl, adriana kuch. she died by suicide after video of a violent bullying incident at her new jersey high school was posted online. her father and community are outraged and the school district is under fire. but tonight some parents and students are telling us it's another painful reminder of a mental health crisis affecting teenaged girls across the country. we warn you, the video is deeply disturbing. here is abc's philipoff. >> i'm upset with every single one of you guys. you are here to protect the students.

>> having been bullied out of this school by not only students but teacher. >> we're terrified we're going to get picked on and bullied an jumped because that's all that's been happening the last few weeks. >> reporter: weeks, years and months of pent up pain and emotion exploding at this school board meeting in bayville, new jersey. >> that girl should still be alive. make a change. do something. don't just sit on your butts and push out like you do every [ bleep ] day of your life. >> reporter: this gathering the first since adriana kuch, a 14-year-old from central regional high school took her own life earlier this month. some parents and students saying the school didn't do enough to stop constant bullying. >> he was on the floor, blacked out, and you guys didn't do nothing about it. >> her death coming two days after video of her being beaten by classmates in the hallway was posted online and then went viral. >> everybody without exception who knew adriana knew she was witty, funny, smart, strong.

you know, getting hit in the face with a water bottle didn't hurt adriana. what hurt adriana was the embarrassment and the humiliation. they just kept coming at her. >> reporter: adriana's father michael kuch says constant bullying and rumors drove his child to take her own life. the ocean county prosecutor's office confirming to abc news four students seen in that video were charged. three of the students were charged with assault-related charges and one charged with harassment. adriana's death part of what some are calling a nationwide mental health crisis involving teenaged girls. according to a cdc report published last week, 57% of teenaged girls, a record high said they felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. that's up from 36% in 2011. the cdc also reporting suicide is now the second leading cause of death among all adolescents.

rosalynn wiseman studies youth culture and is the best-selling author of "queen bees and wanna-be's", the book that inspired "mean girls". >> girls in particular are suffering from depression and thoughts of suicide that are just unecedy pericef ing wi yng peleor 25 years. >> reporter: now questions being raised. the bullies, social media, parents, faculty. who should be held accountable? >> i just find it so disgusting, how people can record and sit there and laugh at a fight video. >> reporter: and as the community mourns adriana's loss, hoping to prevent bullying from claiming the lives of others. for adriana's best friend, haley anne geyser, what she remembers most is how her friend lit up a room. >> adriana was like my little sister and my best friend all in one. she loved the ocean. she loved animals. her personality was the best. she was always so sweet to

people, kind-hearted. >> reporter: and geyser says adriana showed no signs that she was being bullie until she was attacked earlier this month. >> she never would really talk about her feelings. i wish she did, though, so i could understand what she was feeling and i could have helped her with it. >> i got to tell you, adriana was the most happy, beautiful young lady in the world. >> reporter: for adriana's dad michael, there is little to soothe a broken heart. >> so what happened is my daughter calls me crying, saying they jumped me, dad. and so i rushed to the school. her nose was -- may have been broken. both her upper lip was swollen, her bottom lip was swollen and she had black bags under her eyes and she had bruises up and down her legs. >> reporter: in your darkest of times, have you ever thought bad thoughts that you wish you weren't thinking? >> yeah. i have.

and i feel like it's normal way to feel like youon beng. >> reporter: danlle is a senior at central regional highf udents who spoke up at the school board meeting. her mom marissa by her side. >> i tried so hard to just talk, to just try for you guys to listen to me. >> is there a relief when you leave school? is there any kind of relief or because there is a social media aspect of it, does it ever stop? >> i feel like social media definitely takes a part in my mental health because i'm just constantly on my phone worrying about what people are saying. >> reporter: and now some teens are using social media video as a cruel weapon in bullying. >> what happens when these videos go viral is that the target feels dehumanized. they feel that they can't possibly be a part of the

community, be at school, or just be in the world. and so you feel lonely. you feel isolated. you feel humiliated. >> reporter: since adriana's death, the district superintendent resigned after making a public statement about personal matters relating to that student. he has not responded to requests by abc news for comment. the acting superintendent saying that central regional high school followed all state laws. >> everyone at central regional school district and high school mourns the loss of adriana kuch. our current harassment intimidation bullying policy and procedures are currently and comply with all state laws, department of education requirements. >> reporter: and denying the school has a problem with violence. >> based on our data alone, it doesn't indicate that we're a culture of violence. we don't -- we don't condone that. >> she goes to school in fear. and she comes home scared and

feeling threatened. no child should feel like that ever. . >> gosh, it's like every single day, every single week there is a new fight. there is somebody getting attacked. there is somebody just not feeling safe. >> the superintendent says it's not a culture of violence at the school. do you believe that? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: danielle says she has been bullied her entire life, and at times it became unbearable. but she says she's been afraid to speak up, worried officials at central high school would not listen to her. >> i've been called names in the hallway. i've been stopped in the hallway, just to have people just make fun of me. and it got to the point where, like, the -- when somebody got into my face, i just like -- i broke down and i cried. how can you sit there and tell

somebody that they don't belong on this earth? >> when i heard about adriana, it was truly like experiencing mallory's death all over again. >> reporter: diane grossman knows the unbearable pain of losing a child to bullying, and how she says a moment captured on a phone could lead to a parent's worst nightmare. >> this is not a central regional problem. this is a cultural and across the board. the only reason why we're talking about it is because we have actual videotape of what's happened to adriana. imagine the kids who there isn't a videotape. >> reporter: when "nightline" first spoke to grossman and her husband in 2017, she was seeking answer and justice for mallory, who took her own life when she was just 12 years old after being bullied by other students at her middle school. >> we talked about suicide. this was an open conversation that we had had, and what suicide and ending your life is, and how permanent it is. >> mallory's story is not

this -- >> reporter: now diane and members of mallory's army, a group she cofounded alongside her husband are seeking to prevent future heartbreak for other parents, speaking to schools across the country. >> you can learn a lot from kids. >> reporter: including adriana kuch's school in 2020. >> we talk about bullying and its behavior. and i think that school systems like to check boxes. i'm disappointed that they heard about mallory. they knew about mallory. they were warned, and they just continued to do practice as normal. >> reporter: central regional high school expelled the four students who attacked adriana. the acting superintendent releasing an action plan to prevent and respond to future cases of bullying. from additional training for faculty, staff and parents to recognize potential problem situations to scheduling a dhange may be aroad,ilscuss llng but that begins with small

steps. >> everybody, whether you think it or not absolutely belongs on this planet. >> reporter: absolutely. >> check in on your friends. that's all we ask. >> our thanks to phil. and if you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, there is free confidential help available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. call or text the national line at 988. you can also go to 988 lifeline.org. coming up, my conversation wih jane lynch, who most americans came to know from her role on "glee." >> that was i role on "glee." >> that was i teaching, and that includes when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis keeps flaring, put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable, i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq.

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before "glee" made her a star, jane lynch was featured in another show, "party down," which became a cult classic. she and the other stars are returning for another season 13 years later. why she says the then largely unknown cast was lightning in a bottle. >> join lynch, welcome to "nightline." >> thank you so much. >> we're going to talk about it's the third season on star's "party down". >> yes. thinking cult classic that people love. and now you're bringing it back. why now? >> well, because they said yes is why now. because since the second season ended, all of us said we want to do a third season. that was 13 years ago. so there was a time when we

thought we were doing a movie. and there was a time we thought we were going to put it on tv. and all of that went away. and about a year before we actually shot it, we all got emails from the producer saying look it looks like stars is going to pick it up for six. are you available for january 2022? we all committed and made it work. >> it speaks how gracious you are. your career you could say i'm over it. no, i'm not interested. but you love this project. >> oh, i do. i love ensemble comedy. i never want to be out there by myself. and this cast, it was like lightning in a bottle. you never know that when you cast people. we didn't know each other beforehand. a few of them knew each other. and it just worked. we just loved each other, immediately. and it was like a carbonated bubbles from the start. >> we have a clip of the new season of "party down." let's take a look. >> i love seeing people from the past, and seeing people from the past see other people from the

past. >> why? >> you know, this reminds me of a superhero movie they was in, bazoom, base odd tonight greek comic. my director, gorbe. imagine a young jan michael vincent with a very dense mustache. he was killed in an accident, smothering in a core few strip mall. never finished the film. time. treasure every moment, kyle. >> i had the opportunity to watch the first episode. >> it's a workplace comedy that's simple. we're not reinventing the wheel here. we're just the same cast every week, but at a different party. very few guest stars like we have jennifer garner and james marsden in this one. but for the most part, it's about this core group of people going from party to party. >> now you renight with adam scott, megan mullally and kim to name a few. what was that like? >> i love them all. i have a special place in my

heart for ken marino. he makes me laugh harder than anybody i have ever worked with. he is a brilliant physical comic. he has absolutely no shame. >> i don't know if people know, this but you left "party down" originally to start a little show called "glee." >> yes. >> how has your life changed since "glee"? >> oh, it's a pretty big shift in terms of people know me. i walk into a place, and people know me. people know my name. i have -- i get recognized. i got paid a little bit more. so -- >> never hurts. >> that never hurts when that comes along with it. i was 50 when it happened. so i wasn't like a kid. it wasn't seismic. internally, it was not a seismic thing. extern externally, it was kind of seismic. >> i want to talk about your book, your memoir that came out in 2011. i'm grateful for the time i spent with it. thank you for speaking your truth. >> of course. >> you make the point in your book that you are not an

overnight sensation. >> no. >> that you're a grinder. >> yeah. you know, i do it because i love it. and did it for a long time without, you know, any fireworks or anything. but i enjoyed it the whole time. i loved doing it and i love being a part of a group. so before i started doing television and film, i was doing sketch comedy with a bunch of my friends from chicago, you have a huge following on social media, and you're often talking to your fans. what advice would you give to people? one of the things i think your journey speaks to is stick with it. was there ever a moment you thought can't do it, not going to do it, let's stop. >> there was one moment. and i was hiking up freiman canyon in los angeles. i was feeling dejected for one reason. you get used to losing jobs. maybe this one hurt. i can't remember. and i got to the top of the hill and i saw a friend, a fellow actor, and i said i think i'm

done. i think i'm going to stop acting. she said no you're not. it was such a dismissal that by the time i got back down to the bottom of the hill, wiz back in the game. >> always good to have a good tribe around you. >> it really is. >> you're also honest with your battling about alcoholism, and how that's shaped who you. it's a courage to talk about that, about dealing with it, the fall, dealing with it again. >> you got to keep it simple. go back to all of the phrases when i first walked into aa. a day at a time, think through the drink. keep it simple. let go and let god, whatever you think god. soy keep it simple. i keep it very, very, very simple. >> we're the same age. >> yes. >> 62. and this is our first time meeting. but i see a piece to your spirit. what's brought that about, the peace now? is it being 62? is it having this wonderful career, this wonderful life? >> you know, i think -- i don't know exactly the cause and effect. but i do feel a lot of peace a lot of the time.

you know, really, it's grace. and if there is any credit to be begin to me, it's that i've allowed it. didn't fight it too hard. >> jane lynch starring in "party down." it's funny. it's enjoyable. it's kind. and you're kind. >> oh, back at you. >> and we're very grateful to have you on "nightline." >> oh, thank you so much. >> continued grace. >> yeah, thank you, thank you. you too. up next, gator tale. how an alligator ended up in a lake in brooklyn. cleaning is the worst. seriously. there's gotta be a better way. so we gave swiffer a shot. if we don't love it, we get our money back! spoiler alert: love it! sweeper's heavy duty dry cloths grab dust and hair and lock it away, better than my broom that can push it around. it even gets into hard-to-clean grooves and grout lines! cool! and swiffer duster gets in all those hard-to-reach-places... trapping 3x more dust. heeh yah.

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and finally tonight, unraveling the alligator mystery. the four-foot-long gator was first spotted at a lake in brooklyn, new york. authorities are trying to figure out how it got there. one theory is that the reptile was a pet that was dumped in the lake. authorities say it was lethargic, possibly in shock from the cold temperatures. it's now at the bronx zoo. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.