Abstinence-only sex education enthusiasts have new standard bearers, and their name is Jonas.Kevin, Joe and Nick — also known as the teen idols of pop music, The Jonas Brothers — have been vocal about their vow to remain chaste until marriage, and they even have purity rings to prove it.The trio showed off their purity rings to Details magazine, saying they wear the bands to symbolize “promises to ourselves and to God that we’ll stay pure till marriage.”Each ring shows off the individual personality of the Jo Bro wearing it.Twenty-year-old Kevin has a studded rock-and-roll purity ring from Tiffany’s. It shows that he’s a rebel who plays his Bon Jovi music too loud and flouts society by letting his hair grow past his ears. It also screams “abstinence is cool!”Eighteen-year-old Joe‘s ring is more discreet. It’s a simple silver band with a cross on it. It shows that he’s a sweet romantic guy who just wants to chill on the couch with his honey talking about books, movies and the environment.The youngest Jonas, Nick, got his purity ring at Disney World. It represents the fact that Disney owns his soul.It’s hardly surprising. The only thing more common than the bastardization of the Beatles in Target commercials is pop tarts claiming purity.In pop music you have to take one of two roads. Either you go the Jonas Brothers route and attempt to appeal to grandmothers and sixth-grade girls. On the other end you can go the Amy Winehouse route and appeal to absolutely no one except the gossip rags counting down the days until your inevitable crack-related death.But I’ve been burned on the virginity front before.Remember when Britney Spears claimed she was staying a virgin until marriage? She later claimed she gave it up to Justin Timberlake. In Lynne Spears’ new tell-all book, she reveals that Brit lost her claim on a purity ring to a football player when she was 14.The Jonas Brothers could be   lying. I mean, 16-year-old Nick once dated Miley Cyrus who is hardly the pinnacle of purity.Then again, maybe that’s why they broke up.But the facts are hardly important in the grand scheme of things. It is what the Jonas Brothers stand for — not their actual actions — that matter.And they stand for squeaky-clean pure pop.The Jonas Brothers are huge among the preteen crowd and their influence on them can only be positive. Teenage girls are highly impressionable and tend to do whatever their friends or the kids on television are doing. Just look at how many young girls started wearing neckties over their t-shirts just because Avril Lavigne did it.With any luck, the saintly Jonases will combat the generation of sluts the Bratz dolls will inevitably produce.After all, the U.S. teen birth rates rose for the first time in 14 years in 2007 according to the National Center for Health Statistics.Despite this, the Jonas Brothers are not alone in their virginity vow. Purity is extremely en vogue.After the pop trio was the butt of several Russell Brand jokes at the VMAs, former American Idol Jordin Sparks stuck up for the Jo Bros saying there’s nothing wrong with wearing a purity ring because, “not everybody – guy or girl – wants to be a slut.”Sparks allegedly sports a purity ring of her own.Nick’s current girlfriend, Disney starlet Selena Gomez, is another sporter of the purity ring.Even Victoria Secret angel Adriana Lima said she believes sex is strictly for after marriage.But will all these good examples have an effect on teens?Probably not.It’s a very pretty mirage, though.When I was in high school, it was almost mandatory to participate in “True Love Waits,” a campaign which, according to its Web site, “utilizes positive peer pressure by encouraging those who make a commitment to refrain from pre-marital sex to challenge their peers to do the same.”It was the only form of sex education offered at my high school.They did indeed utilize peer pressure. Everyone signed the card vowing sexual purity, and it was a big deal to pick out your promise ring.But that’s where the charade ended. The only people who amended their behavior and followed the abstinence vow were the ones who would have followed it anyway.It paints a pretty picture for parents and administrators, though the number of teenage pregnancies coming out of my high school probably trampled their hopes and dreams.Not that my jaded high school experience is necessarily the norm, but I wouldn’t stop handing out the condoms and keeping kids educated on STDs. Boys will be boys, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mama Jonas publishes a tell-all book in five years detailing her famous sons’ sordid teenage sex lives.Because the purer your rise, the dirtier your fall.—-contact Caitlyn Scott at [email protected]