For our final thesis we planned and organized a substance abuse awareness day for the 9th grade pupils in Pöllönkangas School. The awareness day was arranged on 2nd March in 2010 and 54 pupils participated in the day. The substance abuse awareness day was designed to influence young people's attitudes towards intoxicants and to try to prevent the youth from starting using substances. The awareness day was arranged as an activity day. The purpose of the activity day was to get young people to actively participate in the conversation and ask questions and opinions. Our intention was to remind the pupils about the dangers of substance use and provide them with new information.

The five-hour-long substance abuse awareness day included five control points which pupils visited groups of ten. The topics of the control points were alcohol and medication abuse, smoking, drug abuse, first aid and substance abuse and traffic safety from the perspective of the law. After the activity day the pupils had a test about what they had learned.

The feedback showed that the pupils were satisfied with the day and found it useful. The feedback from the co-operation partners was also positive. All in all the substance abuse awareness day was versatile, useful and practical. The school staff was of the opinion that such projects should definitely be arranged more often. Six of the pupils thought that the awareness day was really necessary. Two thirds of the pupils thought that the awareness day was partly necessary and felt that they got to repeat previously familiar knowledge but also learned some new things. The rest of the pupils did not find the awareness day necessary.