9th grade immaturity vs college condescension

Though I really don't think it was Dr. Abernathy's aim, her question about teaching 9th graders Huckleberry Finn definitely sparked a debate. Some said that different high school have different maturity levels and to an extent that is true but are ninth graders around the country really that different? Can some handle topics better than others? Yes, there is a great myriad of thoughts, parents, socioeconomic backgrounds, and overall geographies but I think for the most part they would have about the same ability to grasp certain readings. I lived in a VERY rural community and we read To Kill A Mockingbird in ninth grade as well as Fahrenheit 451 and I think that with the right guidance, we understood them both just fine. In 7th grade we read The Devil's Arithmetic, The Giver, The Wave and The Outsiders. All of those deal with deep things that might be difficult and are often tiptoed over but should they be? The earlier that a person is exposed to the problem of racism (within reason) and the stifling of ideas, the easier it will be for them to fight those in their own lives down the road. To Kill a Mockingbird deals with many of the same kinds of themes as Huckleberry Finn while Fahrenheit 451 has some very deep themes of censorship. The Devil's Arithmetic, The Wave, and The Diary of Anne Frank are all about the Holocaust but in reading all these we learned about what happens when you don't think for yourself, when you roll over and don't say anything when a wrong is being perpetrated and when you just try to live life adequately instead of excellently.
In conclusion, though some fresmen wouldn't understand it right away, you can't keep a classic from all of them just because of a few. Moreover, isn't the mark of a good teacher helping their students along in understanding and drawing their own conclusions? I think we (myself definitely included) forget how much we understood when we were that age. We need to stop and remember how books like that affected us and who we are now. Plus, being the daughter of two teachers, I know middle school and early high schoolers understand alot more than we give them credit for.