Milton resident talks cyberbullying with council

MILTON — Emily Schurr said the time had come when someone had to talk to the City Council about the cyberbullying issue she said was growing in the city of Milton, and she said it was up to her.

Shurr, who is currently working on a college degree in psychology, gave a presentation to the Milton City Council on the dangers of cyberbullying and urged the council to step in and try to put a stop to it. 

"I'm not an expert in cyberbullying but I have done research," Schurr said. "(I have also) talked to the Milton Police Department and professors at UWF."

While cyberbullying initially began as bullying geared toward adolescents, Schurr said it has become more advanced in the age of social media and now includes adults.

"Bullying once restricted to the school or neighborhood has now moved into the online world," she said.

Schurr has spoken at a previous City Council meeting about bullying issues and asked the council to think of solutions to stop the bullying issues in the area. 

Councilwoman Sharon Holley thanked Schurr for speaking on the matter and asked for a professional to speak to the council about the legalities the city could face in the event of cyberbullying issues regarding city staff and council.

"We need to know," Holley said.

Councilwoman Mary Ellen Johnson said the council and community needs to work at having training in open communications to avoid bullying.

"We all must learn to develop positive relationships with each other," Johnson said. "We must have open communications."

Milton Police Chief Tony Tindell said he had talked to several lawyers and was looking into the issue of bullying to continue to develop a plan on handling the adult cyberbullying issue.

"The statute that was written was specific for juvenile behavior, so this with adults is still new to us," Tindell said.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton resident talks cyberbullying with council