You must have seen the headlines this week. “Virginity Pledges Don’t Stop Teen Sex.” “Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds.” Or how about this one: “Virginity Pledges Fail to Trump Teen Lust in Look at Older Data.”

But William McGurn at the Wall Street Journal takes a closer look:

The pledge itself is not what distinguishes these kids from most other teenagers. The real difference is their more conservative and religious home and social environment. . . . When you compare both groups in this study with teens at large, the behavioral differences are striking. . . . The real headline from this study is this: “Religious Teens Differ Little in Sexual Behavior Whether or Not They Take a Pledge.”