Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL is a 1970s-era, drive-in-style, anti-authority comedy with music by the punk band the Ramones. There's hardly any good behavior here; the teen characters are rebellious and reckless, and the authority figures are mean and rigid and soul-sucking; it's impossible not to root for the teens. Of course, even today's teens will love to see other teens standing up to and humiliating their elders, and in many ways, it's good clean fun. But the movie contains heavy sexual innuendo (no nudity) and some overt use of cigarettes, drugs, and liquor by teens. The movie wouldn't be worth talking about, however, without the Ramones, who have gone on to occupy a seminal, pioneering place in rock history; some parents may be interested in braving the objectionable material to introduce teens to this great music.
Sexual
Content
Characters think and talk about sex often, but there is no nudity. Tom Roberts flirts with girls in the hallway, and sometimes ogles their breasts. He says things like "I need to get laid" and says he wants a girl with "huge breasts." A character teaches him how to make out with a girl in a car, and uses an inflatable sex doll to demonstrate how to remove a bra (the sex doll wears "pasties" over its nipples). Tom also buys a van with a waterbed in the back. Later, Riff Randell has a fantasy sequence in which she imagines Joey Ramone in her room, and climbing into her bed (fully clothed). She appears in sexy underwear and also wearing a towel. Otherwise, we sometimes see teen girls wearing skirts, tank tops, and short shorts.
Violence
Some high school seniors haze a freshman throughout the film, stuffing him in a locker, in a urinal, and in other places, mostly for comic effect. At the climax, the teens blow up the school. Otherwise, the movie has no overt violence, other than a general sense of teenage rebellion.
Language
Very mild and infrequent language, although there is one use of "s--t." Other words include "hell" and "God" and some insults like "screw you" and "dork."
Social
Behavior
These teens are everything you don't want your teens to be like. Riff Randell mouths off to authority figures, lies, skips school to buy concert tickets, and ignores her homework. Football captain Tom Roberts is mainly interested in sex, and buys a van so that he can "get laid." He also drinks (whisky?) from a bottle. Eaglebauer is the school's "go to guy" who can get you test scores, liquor, hall passes and other contraband things for a price. Only Kate Rambeau seems interested in her studies and in dating a nice boy, but she is easily swayed by her rebellious friends. In defense of the teens, however, the movie's authority figure, Miss Togar, is much worse.
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Teens are seen smoking cigarettes, drinking, smoking a bong, sharing a cigarette (possibly pot), and snorting cocaine (a character sneezes in his coke and sends it flying in a puff of smoke). One character is turned away from a concert for being too stoned. There is a reference to "ludes" at the concert.
