My name is Ashley Rinck and I am from Ellensburg, WA which is a small college town in the dead center of Washington. My first sex ed class though was in elementary school and I went to elementary school in Issaquah, WA. Our sex ed class was pretty thorough I would say. We learned all about safe sex, how to use a condom, what all of the male and female parts of the body were and their functions. In this class they did split up the boys and girls into different class rooms. I’m pretty sure that we all learned the same material though but they did this to make it more comfortable for asking questions by being in the same sex peer groups. We were able to freely ask any questions; some even asked about how gay people have sex. We learned about birth control of all different kinds. We learned about pregnancy and how the body changes. We learned about all the STI's (at that time called STDs) and how they affected the body. They showed us what condoms looked like and even handed out pads and tampons to the female students. I think that my sex ed class was more thorough that most. Then in middle school, which I did attend in Ellensburg, WA, we had sex ed again. At this community they were pretty thorough but the teachers did push abstinence. I think that they kind of tried to scare people into staying abstinent which of course didn’t work. I think that because I grew up in a college town that high school was a little wilder. The sex ed was pretty much the same as it was when I was in elementary but they just pushed us not to have sex.
In my high school I did see teen pregnancies. I know a girl who had an abortion and two girls who followed through with their pregnancies. I am sure that there were other teen pregnancies that I didn’t know of because of the alternative school. When someone did become pregnant they usually chose to switch to the alternative school which was held up on the CWU campus. I think that Ellensburg is a small town and people are more likely to get pregnant because of the small town feel. People in Ellensburg get married early and have children early as well. I also think that since Ellensburg is a small town the college influences earlier involvement in sex.
Summarize Findings (Ellensburg, WA):
According to the findings Ellensburg is low on the teen pregnancy rates compared to the United States as a whole. Ellensburg is low crime and high education and I think this helps the teen pregnancy rate stay low. Though I did observe pregnant teens in high school, this wasn’t the norm.
Data Compilation:
Population of Ellensburg, WA (2009): 17,408
Males: 8,482 | (48.7%) |
Females: 8,926 | (51.3%) |
Median resident age: | 23.6 years |
Washington median age: | 35.3 years |
Estimated median household income in 2009: $24,459 (it was $20,034 in 2000)
Ellensburg: | $24,459 |
Washington: | $56,548 |
Population density: 2641 people per square mile
For population 25 years and over in Ellensburg:
High school or higher: 85.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 32.0%
Graduate or professional degree: 12.6%
Unemployed: 12.1%
Mean travel time to work (commute): 15.4 minutes
For population 15 years and over in Ellensburg city:
Never married: 51.8%
Now married: 33.6%
Separated: 1.3%
Widowed: 5.3%
Divorced: 8.0%
The ratio of number of residents in Ellensburg to the number of sex offenders is 2176 to 1.
The number of registered sex offenders compared to the number of residents in this city is smaller than the state average.
Crime:
Full-time law enforcement employees in 2009, including police officers: 37 (27 officers)
Officers per 1,000 residents here: | 1.56 |
Washington average: | 1.59 |
The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 28. The number of murders and homicides was 0. The violent crime rate was 1.8 per 1,000 people Politics: 44.94% of the people in Ellensburg, WA are registered as Democrats. 53.01% are registered Republican. |
Education: Ellensburg, WA, schools spend $4,404 per student. There are 20 pupils per teacher, 416 students per librarian, and 344 children per counselor in Ellensburg, WA schools.
Colleges and High Schools: Central Washington University, Ellensburg High School, Morgan Middle School, Lincoln Elementary, Mount Stuart Elementary, Valley View Elementary, and the Ellensburg Christian School (K through 6th grade with a few 7th and 8th grade classes), Alternative School (K-12)
Pregnancy Rates: (Kittitas County) :
All ages: 57.7 per 1000
15-19: 25.7 per 1000
15-17: 19.4 per 1000
18-19: 29.2 per 1000
20-24: 44.5 per 1000
25-29: 130.0 per 1000
30-34: 139.6 per 1000
35-39: 51.6 per 1000
40-44: 12.7 per 1000
Help Centers:
We have a Planned Parenthood, Care Net Pregnancy Center, and Kittitas County Public Health.
Info from:
http://censtats.census.gov/data/WA/1605321240.pdf
http://www.bestplaces.net/city/washington/ellensburg#
http://www.city-data.com/city/Ellensburg-Washington.html
http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehsphl/chs/chs-data/abortion/htmltables/tb17.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment