Schoolboy Father (1980) starring Rob Lowe, Dana Plato, Sharon Spelman, Nancy McKeon directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman Movie Review

Schoolboy Father (1980)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Rob Lowe in Schoolboy Father (1980)

Lowe's Too Young to be a Father

Charles Elderberry (Rob Lowe) is a typical teenage boy, thinks he is a lover man and so on until at breakfast one morning she reads in the paper that Miss Daisy Dallenger (Dana Plato) has given birth to a child. Charles knows Daisy Dallenger as 9 months earlier at summer camp they had knocked about a bit and realises he is the baby's father. Wanting to do the right thing Charles heads to the hospital to see Daisy and his baby son only to discover that Daisy is putting the baby up for adoption. After persuading his mother Charles is given a trial period to be a dad which he soon discovers is a lot harder than he imagined as he struggles with school, his part time job and the lack of sleep.

Okay technically "Schoolboy Father" is not a movie or even a TV movie but one of those "ABC Afterschool Specials". But with it starring Rob Lowe and being on the subject of teen pregnancy how could I resist the opportunity not to be amused. Okay so yes these TV specials were made as educational pieces and this one brings up various issues such as sexual ignorance, not taking precautions and also how much work it would take if are teen dad decided he was not happy for his son to be adopted and so became a teen father but in truth these things are now corny.

How corny you may be asking? Well it starts with a 16 year old Rob Lowe as Charles in the bathroom after a shower, singing badly and acting all God's gift to teenage girls. What follows ranges from a bad haircut for Lowe through to some cheesy scenes such as when they throw in the lecture about responsibility in such a forced manner that you can't help but laugh. In fact there is a lot to laugh about including the faux romance scenes of Charles and Daisy getting sweet on each other to how other teenagers ostracize Charles when they learn that he has a child. I know it isn't supposed to be funny but the lack of subtlety now makes it very funny.

What this all boils down to is that "Schoolboy Father" might have worked back in 1980 to put off some teens from having sex but watched now it is all quite funny, be it the lecture elements or how naive Charles is when it comes to being a father.


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