Is the ragdoll thing really the only reason? Notice that they don't put children in a lot of games where the player has a lot of free agency at the human scale. No children in Elder Scrolls, no children in GTA.
Honestly, the most fun I ever had in Black & White was teaching my giant ape to eat the children at the school when he was hungry. The first time he did it on his own I was so proud.
I missed Ultima VII so I assume the reference meant there were childrean eaten in that game as well.