A Texas community was left reeling after a mother’s emotional anti-bullying plea took a surprising turn. Ten-year-old Taylor Castillo’s story went viral when her mom, Andie Rae Castillo, went to social media and said bullies had chopped off her daughter’s hair while she slept on the school bus.
After an investigation, the school revealed a very different version of events, but the aftermath raised even more questions about how the school handled her daughter’s years-long bullying.
What started as a viral bullying story quickly unraveled
Image credits: Facebook/Andie Rae
Andie’s first TikTok post was filled with heartbreak and fury. She said her daughter had been targeted on the bus, her hair snipped off by cruel classmates.
“This is beyond bullying. This is assault,” she said in the since-deleted video. “Kids are so cruel and mean. My baby is the sweetest d**n kid. I don’t understand why anyone would treat my sweet girl this way.”
The video gained traction quickly, with parents and local media rallying behind the family.
Image credits: Facebook/Andie Rae
Taylor’s story of bullying at Compass Rose Legacy, a San Antonio public charter school, struck a chord with many, according to the Daily Mail.
But within days, the school issued a public statement that clarified key details of the case. After reviewing hours of bus footage, administrators said Andie’s claims were false.
Video evidence showed no other students were touching Taylor’s hair.
Image credits: TikTok/andieraecastillo
“The evidence clearly showed that there was no bullying or misconduct by others,” the school stated, calling out what they described as “incomplete and inaccurate” information spreading online.
Andie admitted her daughter cut her own hair, but said the real issue runs deeper
Image credits: Facebook/Andie Rae
Andie returned to TikTok with a follow-up post, clarifying that her daughter had indeed admitted to lying because she actually cut her own hair.
“She got a brush caught in her hair. Another kid gave her the scissors, but my child 100(%) cut her own hair,” she wrote in a comment.
Despite the admission, Andie emphasized that this didn’t erase the larger problem. Taylor had been bullied for years, and the school had not done anything about it.
According to the mother, school officials even told her they didn’t technically classify her daughter’s experience as “bullying” because they involved multiple students.
“The school acknowledged, ‘We know she’s been being bullied for the last three years,’ but school policy is if it’s one person bullying one kid, that’s when they can address it as bullying.
“If it’s multiple kids, which her bullying situation has been multiple kids, they don’t consider it bullying. I guess it’s just considered being picked on, and there’s nothing they can do about kids being picked on,” Andie explained in her follow-up TikTok.
Image credits: TikTok/andieraecastillo
That explanation only deepened the outrage online. Many parents and TikTok users felt the school’s language minimized what Taylor had endured.
Some even speculated that the 10-year-old’s stunt with her hair might have been a cry for help from a child who’s been suffering for years.
“When bullying isn’t addressed properly, kids sometimes feel the need to go to extreme measures to feel seen,” one commenter on TikTok wrote.
Image credits: TikTok/andieraecastillo
Another added, “I feel like she may have done this as a wake-up call because the school isn’t doing anything about these kids bullying her.”
Outrage grew as the school reportedly asked Taylor to make a public apology
Image credits: TikTok/andieraecastillo
The situation escalated further when Andie claimed the school principal wanted Taylor to make a public apology for the viral incident.
That detail lit up social media, with users accusing the school of deliberately humiliating a child who had already suffered enough.
“The principal wants you to apologize publicly? Ok, then the principal needs to apologize for the last 3 years of her being bullied!” one furious commenter wrote.
Image credits: Facebook/Andie Rae
“She does NOT need to make a public apology,” another commenter added.
Andie said her daughter will not be issuing a public apology. Instead, Andie said she herself will be apologizing because she was the one who escalated the issue. Taylor, for her part, will face the repercussions of her lying within the family.
“She knows she did wrong,” she admitted, “but I’m not going to have my ten-year-old do a public apology. I’m doing the apology because I jumped the gun.”
Image credits: Facebook/Andie Rae
While she acknowledged that she had overreacted by going to social media before knowing all the facts, Andie stood by her decision to speak out.
“If my daughter’s lie is what it takes to bring light to the bullying situation at the school, maybe that was the reason,” she said.
Andie also claimed that multiple parents had since reached out to her, sharing similar stories about their kids being bullied at the same school.
Netizens shared their thoughts on Andie’s daughter and the school’s demands for a public apology
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