Cheer Angel 2006
Born April 3, 1989 / Died January 18, 2006
by Suicide / Depression
Reflections by Donna Dreyer, Desire's mom
| My daughter, Desire' Dreyer
attended Glen Este High School in Amelia, Ohio. She was a varsity
cheerleader, had a personality that we all only wish we could possess,
had a smile that would take your breath away, had a heart of gold and had
more friends than any of us will ever have in this lifetime. But
on a cold wintery day, January 18, 2006 she took her own life, the day
I died inside. She was being bullied by a group of girls from
her school. |
>
|
When we moved to Amelia Ohio
four years ago, my daughter had a few issues with the move, but she seemed
to have adjusted when she started making new friends, made the cheerleading
squad and met a young man, the boyfriend of her dreams.
But there were a few girls that
just could not leave well enough alone.
My daughter had a few health
issues, sometimes her and her boyfriend fought, sometimes we fought about
the usual teenage stuff, (her staying out to late, keeping her grades up),
the bullies teased her about these things, they even harassed her about
having it all, (meaning she had a loving family, nice home, was a varsity
cheerleader and a handsome boyfriend, (a running back for the varsity football
team). These girls threw things at her in classrooms (while the teachers
turned their heads and walked out of the classroom), chased her into the
girl’s restrooms at school and told her if "it" didn't happen inside of
school it would outside of school. There were other incidents of
a group of girls that followed her home from Homecoming in 2005 and threatened
her in front of our house. The bullies even went as far as to be
waiting on her one night when the school bus she was on (the cheerleaders
had to ride the bus to away football games) arrived back at her High School.
They followed her to a local restaurant and surrounded her car. My
daughter called the police from her cell phone.
This is the kind of bullying
my daughter had to endure. While I knew of some of these issues,
I did not know the extent of the bullying. I was told by the small
school principal that the problem was taken care of, only to find out the
group of girls did not stop. My daughter did not want to go to school,
her grades dropped drastically, she became severely depressed. I
did not know that the bullying was the cause; if only I had known then
what I know now, if only I had known that all the signs she portrayed were
signs of being bullied, which lead her to depression, which in turn led
her to suicide.
The school has tried to brush
this under the rug since the day she took her life. They told the students
at the school they were not allowed to take the day off for her funeral.
They told the students they could show no signs that my daughter even existed.
(For example, some students had written Desire's name on the back window
of their cars, had dog tags made up with her picture and name on them -
the students were told that if they had her name on their car windows they
would not be allowed to park in the school parking lot. They were
told to remove the dog tags). The school will not even allow us to
place a bench on school property in Desire’s memory, but there are other
benches, trees, shadow boxes, etc at the school for all other students
that have passed away.
 > |
There were approximately 1,000
students, family and friends that attended Desire's funeral. My daughter
had known a lot of people; she never met a stranger.
|
The only time we have spoken
with any of the school personnel is when my husband and I approached the
Board of Education. They never once approached us regarding any of the
bullying that was going on at the school. We feel as if they just
want to brush the whole bullying issue under the rug and move on.
They don’t have the decency to admit to the public that they should have
taken appropriate action against the bullies, instead they gave them a
slap on their hands and sent them back to class with my daughter, the same
classes my daughter begged them to remove her from but they would not.
The West Clermont School District
has initiated a program called the Olweus Bullying Program. The program
is geared towards training school personnel and students how to handle
bullying situations. Although, I strongly believe that this program will
not work if school personnel, students and parents do not play a major
role.
I just wish for a half of a
second the school administration and the bullies could see how it feels
to be in my shoes, to make yourself get out of bed everyday by the grace
of God and go into Desire’s bed room just to hope that maybe, just maybe
this has all been a bad dream, but then only to see that she is not there.
Our house is so empty, her laughter that was once is no more, quite often
I find I cannot take the silence. There is a heavy weight that is
a constant on my shoulders. I die inside over and over everyday. I see
her and think about her in everything I say and do. There is no rhyme or
reasoning left in my life. Things that mattered before don't even
have a place in my life anymore. The only thing that keeps me going
at this point is I know that some day I will see her again.
|
|
The memorial marker
at a park in our sub division
|
Desire' and her boyfriend
at Homecoming in 2005
|
Cheer Angel 2006
You’re my Angel
You see me through
Believe in me
I’ll believe in you
You fill my heart from you
loving will
You pick me up when I’m feeling
down
Or when I stumble on shaky
ground
You’re my answer when I can’t
tell
When I am weary and way behind
When I am clearly out of my
mind
When I find I’m in my own
hell
You’re my Angel.
Bullying 
depression
