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...and I'm none too fond of Juliet either.  Can anyone pursuade me that they aren't both a couple of knuckleheads?

They're in love and they're teenagers! You'll have to give them a break. Teenagers are pretty annoying, even if you are one yourself you'd have to agree that most of your peers, especially when they have a crush, can be pretty obnoxious. There is a purity in their love for each other, though, which I think cuts through the annoyance factor. 

In reply to #1:

Before I try to persuade you, let me add to your fire! Romeo is fickle, tossing aside another woman (well, girl) as soon as he sees Juliet. Juliet is willful and disobedient, disobeying direct parental orders. The two are theoretically raised Christian, but they're about to couple on any flat surface. Boo! Hiss!

And yet, and yet, and yet…they are brave. They risk family, lives, reputations. Most people waffle, but they are kids and they commit fiercely. They love, really and truly, and they shine. For that I forgive them all…and you should too.

Most of my female students hate Romeo because he's a player; most of my male students hate him because he's such a whiner. Many of my colleagues see Juliet as strong.

I think their only redeeming qualities are their utter innocence. All of Romeo's whining over Rosaline's resistance to him make him appear to be unpracticed in love; he doesn't have to confidence of someone who has been with other women. Juliet is also new to the game. Neither of them are prepared for the intensity of their feelings because neither of them has a frame of reference for it. They are in over their heads. They are very much the fools for love, and they are probably more infatuated than "in love" (it has only been a few days, after all--enough time to die for love, but not enough time to really see if it will stand the test of time). Having said all that, their innocence in love is much like the innocence of a child. We cringe and are embarassed for them, because a part of us recalls that first feeling of being infatuated and unprepared for the tumultous emotions that followed.

I think they are both fairly annoying. But, they are young. Romeo is definitely the more annoying of the two, given how quickly he is able to get over his love and find it anew with Juliet.

Infatuation and youth are a pretty lethal combination, and I agree with the second response, it is all consuming, so you have to cut them some slack. 

Romeo does remind me of some of my students when they were in Grade Nine and when I point that out to my tens, the light bulbs begin to shine when it comes to Romeo's actions.

Romeo is your typical young teen; impulsive and not exactly a long term thinker. Friar Laurence tries to keep the boy in check but even the good Friar has his moments with him. As for him being a whiner, it depends on the actor that's playing him.  Leonardo Di Caprio and Joseph Finnes (listen to the Arkangel rendition of the play) has a dark spin to him while Leonard Whiting plays to the more impulsive side.