Proclamation 5248—National Children's Week, 1984

The future of our free society depends on our most important resource: our children. For ourselves as for every other society, our children are our future.

Over the course of human history, men and women in every time and place have chosen the family as the best institution for the raising and nurturing of children. Today, there is a renewed appreciation of the crucial role the family plays in producing healthy and self-confident children, who will mature into adults capable of forming the bonds of love and affection which sustain society.

Children grow best in families supported by the love of parents who pass on to them the rich moral heritage of our civilization and help develop their sense of responsibility to the larger community. Children who are confident of their own worth within a family will bring confidence and strength to our society.

National Children's Week provides an opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring our children a firm foundation for physical, mental, and spiritual growth. As we embrace the younger generation, let us remember that we hold the future in our hands.

The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 153, has designated the week of October 7 through October 13, 1984, as "National Children's Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of October 7 through October 13, 1984, as National Children's Week. I call upon government agencies and the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.

RONALD REAGAN