STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS RELEASED

Tuesday October 24, 2006 A collaborative survey was recently
compiled and released to the public.

The survey was taken by hundreds of students in Drayton Valley in an
attempt by the Town of Drayton Valley to form a numerical statistic
for three major concerns of the Town.

Matthew Grant, youth project co-ordinator for the Town of Drayton
Valley, said the survey was conceived through a desire to attain
hard numbers, as opposed to anecdotal evidence on whether the Town's
plans have actually been met with success.

"We needed demographics to see if we were making progress," said
Grant. "But we wanted to look at youth."

Youth were targeted first for the survey as part of the Town's
Strategic Plan for Youth Development, which Grant described with the
question, "What do we want for our young people in the future?"

The three segments of the survey addressed community inclusion,
response to the DARE program, and drug use among students.

"Our community has been really active on tackling the issues of
drugs," said Grant, adding that from the results of the survey,
school had the remarkable benefit of being an effective anti-drug.

Of all the students surveyed, only 3.6 per cent have tried crystal
meth, a drug that is commonly seen as being one of the most
problematic in Drayton Valley.

However, according to the survey, more than seven per cent said they
had taken prescription drugs for non-medical reasons, the most
commonly misused medication being codeine, a powerful painkiller
found in Tylenol 3.

However, Grant said that even with the drug problems in Drayton
Valley, the results from the survey showed hope and proof of success.

"The situation is not as bad as some people think it is," said
Grant. "The kids are very good, they do good things."

In surveying the students' feelings of community inclusion, many
young people felt that Drayton Valley was a good place to live,
although a the survey put forward that around one in five young
people don't feel safe walking around downtown Drayton Valley alone.

Grant said the survey was the first step in a broader series of
surveys coming over the next few years, with the next one being
aimed at young people who have entered the workforce.