The suicide of teenager Lucille Dillerton causes consternation among her friends and the community. At Lucille's high school, her friends June Thompson, Francine Van Pelt and Sally Higgins, discuss the reasons why Lucille jumped off the pier and into the river to her watery death. When Lt. Hanahan of the police department comes to the school to investigate Lucille's suicide, Mr. Moffatt, the principal, calls the girls into his office for questioning. There, Sally, a hardened, cynical girl, refuses to cooperate with him. After school, Jerry Sykes, Sally's boyfriend, offers the girls a ride in his car. After parking his car in front of a store, Jerry enters the building, robs the proprietor and shoots him. Jumping back into the car, Jerry speeds away and is followed by the police. When Jerry strikes a pedestrian outside the Merry-Go-Round, a teen hangout owned by gangster Nick Gordon and his mistress Mimi, Nick tells Jerry to hide his car in the back and then ushers June and Sally into the club. Soon after, Hanahan arrives, looking for Jerry. When Hanahan tells reporter Steve Cronin about the crime, Steve declares that the rise in juvenile delinquency is caused by the loosening of family bonds. After June begins to worry that her father will be angry with her for being out so late, Sally calls Mr. Thompson and, pretending to be her own mother, invites June to spend the night at the Higgins' house. Later, Rocky Webster, June's beau, comes to the club and offers to sell Nick his father's pistol for five dollars. After completing the transaction, Nick offers to drive June and Sally home. As soon as June enters her house, she is confronted by her angry father who has phoned Mrs. Higgins and discovered that his daughter has lied. After slapping June, Mr. Thompson orders her to leave the house. Dejected, June wanders down to the river where Rocky finds her. Fearing that she is contemplating suicide, Rocky proposes to her. Just then, Hanahan appears from the shadows and takes them into custody. Jerry, meanwhile, has met Sally and they also proceed to the river. Upon seeing Hanahan, Jerry pushes the policeman into the river and then invites June and Rocky to join him in robbing a gas station. After Rocky and June decline, Sally and Jerry hold up the gas station, and still not satisfied, also rob a lunch counter. After leaving Jerry, Sally then robs a motorist. Hanahan, now dry after his dip in the river, finds Rocky and June and takes them to Judge Craig for counseling. When Rocky tells the judge about the brutality of June's father, the judge summons all the teenagers' parents to a meeting. There, he lectures the adults about their parental responsibilities and warns them about child abuse. June and Rocky benefit from the judge's advice, and Rocky begins to work after school so that he can buy a car. Jerry and Sally remain unrepentant, however, and Nick recruits Jerry to help him rob a payroll delivery. After handing Mr. Webster's gun to Jerry, Nick instructs Sally to drive the getaway car. When the robbery results in a deadly shootout between Jerry and the guard, Sally and Nick speed away, leaving the lifeless Jerry behind. After the police find the gun in Jerry's hand, they question Mr. Webster, and Rocky admits selling the gun to Nick. Next, Hanahan takes Mimi to headquarters for interrogation. When Hanahan mentions that the robber was accompanied by a woman, Mimi becomes jealous and incriminates Nick and Sally. When Hanahan drives away to arrest Nick, June and Rocky follow in Rocky's car. Mimi, meanwhile, hurries back to the club to warn Nick that the police are searching for him. When she sees Sally there, she slaps her and is then hit by Nick, who speeds away with Sally. Realizing that Nick is outdistancing the police car, Rocky takes a short cut and forces Nick's car off the road and over a cliff. With Nick's demise, Steve and Hanahan decide to open the Merry-Go-Round as a wholesome gathering place for teenagers.