Perhaps I should have qualified that by saying "you don't send your own children". While I can imagine the Lunars rounding up orphans, giving them a spear and shield and sending them out to fight it doesn't fit the social structure of an Orlanthi clan. Even then it's a desperate measure because, unlike modern firearms, a spear is a lot less effective in a child's hands.
>Wolves tend to run from humans, not fight them. A child guarding sheep does
>much better to stay and drive off the wolves and is perfectly capable of
>taking them on, unless the child is of such small size that no one would put
>them out to guard sheep in the first place. If one did run then the wolves
>would kill some sheep well before any adults could get there.
A pack of wolves determined to attack a flock wouldn't be driven of by a single adult never mind a child - it's far too easy to keep the herder occupied while the rest of the pack makes kills. Some sheep are dead whatever happens but getting help means that the rest of the flock can be herded back to safety and the wolf pack possibly hunted down the same day - not several hours later in the dark.
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