Case Study - Jesse Shao - Bellevue, WA

Data Compilation:

Population of Bellevue, WA (2010): 122, 363

Median Income (2008): $81,184

Men’s Median: $66,456         

Women’s Median: $47,124

Per Capital Income: $56,906

Below Poverty Line: 3.8% Families and 5.7% Population

NOTE: *A majority of those living below the poverty line were either under the age of 18 or over the age of 65.

Crime: As of 2006, Bellevue was ranked within the Top 25 safest cities in the United States of     America. The Bellevue Police force is strongly supported by the community.

Politics: In the 2004 Election, 57% of the voting residents of Bellevue, WA voted for Democrat John Kerry.

Education: Has four main public high schools, Bellevue High School, Interlake High School, Newport High School and Sammamish High School including two alternate High Schools, International School and Robinswood High School.

NOTE: *As of 2010, Newsweek ranked Interlake at 14^th, International at 21^st, Newport at 46^th, Sammamish at 58^th, and Bellevue at 81^st in the top 100 high schools in the nation.

Pregnancy Rates: Per 1,000, King County had 38 per 1,000 females between the age group of  15-19. No data was available for Bellevue alone. If Bellevue were  representative, that would mean it would have a 3.8% teen pregnancy rate.

 NOTE: *According to The Center for Disease Control, one third of women under the age of 20 get pregnant in the United States.

 NOTE: *The national average is 53 per 1,000 women for teen pregnancy, making Bellevue, WA far below the average.

Government Programs: 

Bellevue alone has six programs, which address teen pregnancy and safe sex. 

Three of which primarily focus on teen pregnancy. 

These three include:

1.)    Emergency Contraceptive Line
2.)    Planned Parenthood
3.)    Sex Information Line

NOTE: *The teen population age group 15-19 only accounts for approximately 6,300 members in the Bellevue community.

Personal Experience:

Growing up in Bellevue, WA, I went to Bellevue High School, which is where all the kids whose parents either owned businesses downtown or worked at Microsoft in Redmond went. The sex education received was fairly balanced, discussing both topics of abstinence and birth control. In my four years at that high school, never once did I hear or see anything about anyone in my school getting pregnant. Furthermore, I had friends from every high school in the city and the only time teen pregnancy was mentioned was in reference to Robinswood High School, which at the time was fitting because that was where teens who either had bad grades, some kind of criminal record, were expelled from another school or were of low socioeconomic standing went. Bellevue accounted for about 1.500 kids with Newport right behind it at 1,200 and Interlake and Sammamish with a total of 1,600 combined and International School somewhere in the ballpark of 400. That already accounts for more than two thirds of the teen population in Bellevue, so without a single mention of teen pregnancy in that regard, says quite a bit.

Summarizing Findings (Bellevue):

• High socioeconomic standing. Other communities that reported with high socioeconomic standings had lower teen pregnancy rates.
• Low rates of divorce. Other communities that reported low rates of divorce also had lower teen pregnancy rates.
• Outstanding public education with high accessibility to government programs such as Planned Parenthood. Other communities which reported to have a good public education system and ease of accessibility to government programs like Planned Parenthood were likely to have lower teen pregnancy rates.
• Overall, Bellevue, WA is representative of how all these factors would influence teen pregnancy.