Royse City mother fights back against bullying of daughter with albinism
ROYSE CITY — The mother of a Royse City Independent School District middle schooler said her daughter is being relentlessly bullied at school because of her unique physical appearance.
Ashley Griggs said that any time her family is out in public, they get looks.
"It's a look like, 'Are these your kids?'" she said.
Two of her five children have albinism, are legally blind, and walk with a cane.
"Being born different comes with a lot behind it," Griggs said. "People can really be cruel."
Four years ago, she started documenting her family's life on YouTube hoping to raise awareness. However, she said despite her best efforts her 12-year-old daughter, Khris'Tiana, or T.T., has been the target of bullying at her Royse City ISD middle school.
"She was called an N-word, and it was the original N-word," she said. "She was also called 'white,' 'whitewashed.'"
Griggs said last week, the situation escalated when she received a call from her daughter.
"She was in distress," she said. "She asked me to come and get her."
She said when she got to school, T.T. was soft-spoken.
"Quiet, scared, timid," she said. "T.T. said her cane was broken. She also said that books that she had were I guess thrown or pushed."
Griggs said her daughter told her it was an accident.
"A mother's intuition.. a mother knows when something is happening to your child," she said.
"I just started bawling my eyes out because I didn't want her to worry about it," T.T. said.
In a statement to CBS News Texas, a spokesperson for Royse City ISD said:
"Royse City ISD takes the physical and emotional safety of every single student with the utmost seriousness. Students deserve to feel completely and wholly safe at school. With reports involving behavior issues, campus officials waste no time to investigate. Immediately upon learning of this concern, campus leaders and district officials worked to partner with the family and local law enforcement to gather as much information as possible. Given the opportunity to complete the investigation, it is our ultimate goal for resolution."
The district said it has a replacement cane for T.T.
Griggs said as far as she knows, the students involved are still at school, so she's been keeping her daughter at home.
"They keep saying that everything is a process," Griggs said. "My question to each and every parent out there, or the school district, is: would you just let it rest if it was your child?"
She wants to see action taken immediately.
Fate police told CBS News Texas they' are also involved and one of their school resource officers is investigating.