I think that reading the classics can be beneficial to the first type. But some of the classics can be very bleak. Its not fair to the children to make them read those. 1984 is probably in this category. Read Animal Farm instead. It is also better for the second type of children.
If done properly, and in moderation, I think reading classics is beneficial.
Consider that a final lesson. Both about how much you've changed since high school, and about the career-ending downside to teaching kids that current society already is pretty damn dystopian.
Yeah, even if it provides minimal didactic value I guess K-12 is at least a twelve year apprenticeship in how to tolerate the sort of hierarchical environments in which both the inmates and their keepers would much rather be doing just about anything else?
I did not think it'd be this horrifying!