Narc's blog

This is short notice, but there will be an electronics recycling event tomorrow, Saturday, April 19, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.  It looks like they're taking all sort of electronics, with a small charge for televisions. Here's the flyer.

I don't normally post here, so I hope I'm doing this right. A few days ago, it came up in an Open Thread as to whether access to the birth control pill encouraged sexual activity in teenagers. So I went looking through the research to find out. I have posted a lengthly description of what I found over at my own blog, but since this started here, I thought it might be of interest to IP readers. Here's what I came up with:

• I couldn't find much that was limited specifically to the Pill, but the conclusions with respect to contraception in general are clear: access to contraception and to comprehensive sexual education does not hasten the entry into sexual activity. (Note, however, that the Pill is the most commonly used form of contraception.)
• In fact, access to comprehensive sexual education may delay the onset of sexual activity and increase the amount of sexually active teens using contraception and condoms.
• About one quarter of teenage couples remaining abstinent will be pregnant within a year.
• For about 10% of teenage girls, the entry into sexual activity is non-voluntary.

Update: I've posted a graph from the Zabin study, which seems to show the program delayed the onset of sexual activity by about a year, and at the median age of entry to sexual activity for the non-program group, 15% fewer teens in the program group were sexually active. The program included comprehensive sexual education and access to medical care and contraception.