For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 24, 2001
President Proclaims Family Day
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Strong families make a strong America. Responsible, caring, and involved parenting dramatically affects the direction of a child's life and fundamentally influences the well-being of society as a whole. To help ensure a bright future for our children and for our Nation, we must expand our efforts to strengthen and empower families in their important task of effectively preparing children for the challenges of tomorrow.
To help families, we must fight crime and
violence in our schools and communities, and we must make a quality
education available to all young people, regardless of
background. We must also work to ensure that adults have the
skills and resources they need to provide for the health, safety, and
well-being of their children.
Our Nation should send a consistent
message that hails the vital importance of families. We live
in an era of busy schedules and significant commitments to work,
school, and community. However, quality time among family
members remains as vital as ever to maintaining strong and loving bonds
between parents and children and to protecting young people from
harm. In its most recent survey, the National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) found that
a teenager who sits down to dinner with his or her family seven nights
a week is 20 percent less likely to smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs
than those that do not. By contrast, teenagers who never eat
dinner with their families are 61 percent more likely to engage in
these activities.
According to CASA's research, other
family-bonding activities can similarly promote the avoidance of drug,
alcohol, or cigarette use by teens. These include helping
teenagers with homework, attending religious services with them, making
religion an important part of their lives, and praising and
disciplining teens as appropriate. CASA also advises that
parents should monitor their teen's television viewing, music
purchases, and Internet use, and should establish curfews and know
where their children are after school and on
weekends. Perhaps most importantly, parents should send a
clear message, by example and word, of their clear disapproval of
cigarette, alcohol, and drug use.
CASA's findings demonstrate how parental
influence remains the single most important weapon in the war on
drugs. Americans must continue to recognize the importance
of strong families and involved parents in setting our Nation on the
road to a drug-free society. The health, safety, and
well-being of our young people merit nothing less.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH,
President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do
hereby proclaim September 24, 2001, as Family Day. I call
upon the people of the United States to observe this day by spending
quality time with family members and engaging in other wholesome
activities that help unite and strengthen the bonds between parents and
children.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand this twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand one, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and twenty-sixth.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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