At 2024 NACO Annual Conference, Commissioner Donna Miller gets approval on Social Media Safety Policy Resolution (Cook County, IL) – July 15th, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller garnered approval of her Social Media Safety Policy Resolution at the 2024 National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference in Tampa Bay, FL, which brings together nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that impact counties and their residents.

“It’s always a privilege to represent the 6th District and Cook County as a whole at the NACo Annual Conference, and I was grateful for the opportunity to bring national attention to issues I’ve been advocating for here at home,” said Commissioner Donna Miller. “We must continue identifying ways to keep our children safe from the dangers of social media and counties need additional funding to make progress on this crucial matter. I’m proud that my resolution was approved, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with other officials to make our county, our state, and our country a better place.”

Commissioner Miller’s resolution is a national-minded adaptation of efforts she has been championing in Cook County. The NACo Human Services & Education Policy Steering Committee approved Commissioner Miller’s Resolution in Support of Federal Funding for Social Media Safety Education and Training. This initiative urges the federal government and Congress to provide funding for: social media education around how to protect young people from serious social media-related dangers and inform parents how to keep their children safe; helping school administrators and parent associations to develop social media safety policies; conducting research regarding evolving social media-related threats to students; and more. In 2023, Commissioner Miller championed a resolution to proclaim October 3 as “Social Media Safety Day” in Cook County to help advocate for protections for young people online.

“We applaud Commissioner Miller’s work on this resolution and are proud to have worked with her office to develop it,” said Marc Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety. “Social media-related threats, like cyberbullying, sextortion, suicide, and human trafficking, continue to harm millions of children across the country, and local and federal governments together must respond by providing additional resources to protect our youth.”

“Commissioner Donna Miller’s dedication to social media safety is vital in our current digital age. As parents who experienced the devastating loss of our son Nate after vicious cyberbullying by Latin School of Chicago students, we are grateful for her ongoing advocacy. Her efforts bring much-needed national attention to the critical issue of protecting our children online. It’s important that all legislators stand up and fight for the safety of our youth,” said Rob and Rose Bronstein, founders of Buckets over Bullying.

The NACo resolution process provides members with the ability to create national policies affecting county governments. Resolutions may be introduced at NACo conferences, including the Annual Conference, Legislative Conference or, in some cases, any other conference where the NACo Board of Directors convenes.

The National Association of Counties (NACo) unites America’s 3,069 county governments. Founded in 1935, NACo brings county officials together to advocate with a collective voice on national policy, exchange ideas and build new leadership skills, pursue transformational county solutions, enrich the public’s understanding of county government, and exercise exemplary leadership in public service.

At 2024 NACO Annual Conference, Commissioner Donna Miller gets approval on Social Media Safety Policy Resolution

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