Proclamation 4704

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

America's children are our most precious resource, and in this final month of the International Year of the Child I urge all Americans to consider what they can do to prevent child abuse and neglect.

The needs of children are best met in families where provisions can be made for the special needs and limitations of all family members. Even loving parents sometimes fail to provide adequate supervision, or find themselves in situations where needs are not met or emotions are difficult to control.

I urge communities and helping organizations to work with families to alleviate conditions that result in the abuse and neglect of children. I especially urge all those who feel unable to cope with problems to seek out help.

Our Nation's children are our Nation's future. We all share in the responsibility for making sure they grow up in a healthful environment. I appeal to public agencies, private organizations and the business community to support needed social, educational and health services in their communities to strengthen families during the critical child-rearing years.

Working together, with sensitivity and concern, we can reduce the incidence and lifelong damage of child abuse.

Now, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of December, 1979, as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 3: 04 p.m., November 26, 1979]