Partially inspired by some responses on this website, I am currently pursuing teaching licensure toward the eventual end of teaching philosophy at the secondary school level. However, a cursory canvass of philosophy professors from the local university and some on the internet via their blogs has left me slightly disheartened about my future career choice. They argue that philosophy cannot (or perhaps should not) be taught to pre-college-aged students because their abstract reasoning faculties are not yet adequately developed. In other words, they claim that philosophy could never be effectively taught at the secondary level because students (for the most part) are not yet biologically ready for philosophy. How do I go about discovering whether this objection is sound or not? And can the panelists specifically share some of their own experiences with teaching pre-college-aged students about philosophy in regards to the aforementioned objection?