There are a lot of non-children there. George Lucas, at some point, decided that Star Wars was entirely targeted at children. He was wrong. From the very beginning, Star Wars has had fans of all ages.
The first movie involves torture, genocide, and a robot-man who likes to choke people with his mind. It's hard to see how this could possibly be conceived as "for children," especially in 1977.
The only thing in the entire original trilogy that I can think of being "for children" is the Ewoks.
To be fair as I said in another comment, Dr. Seuss covers some of these topics you mention too. Perhaps George Lucas has a different set of values. He draws the plot for most of his works from the Joseph Campbell's comparative mythology. Star Wars is the myth of a young boy who is still with his mother or surrounded by mother symbolism with his mother's family before joining the men, ep.1 and ep.4. An example of one of these rites of passage the plot and symbolism Star Wars draws from is a rite of passage with indigenous Australians when a male child is taken violently from his protective mother to join the men. During this ceremony they cut the boys penis open. George Lucas and Disney don't hide this as their source for symbolism and story plots.
From ep.3 of the interview between Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers at Skywalker Ranch 1988:
"JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Well, we know what they do in Australia. Now, when a boy gets to be, you know, a little bit ungovernable, one fine day the men come in, and they’re naked except for stripes of white down that has been stuck on their bodies, and stripes with their men’s blood. They used their own blood for gluing this on. And they’re swinging the bull-roarers, which are the voice of the spirits, and they come as spirits. The boy will try to take refuge with his mother; she’ll pretend to try to protect him. The men just take him away, a mother’s no good from then on, you see, he’s no longer a little boy. He’s in the men’s group, and then they put him really through an ordeal. These are the rites, you know, of circumcision, subincision, and so forth."
I for one completely support we stop coddling privileged children at Yale.
Please notice something about the average age of the people lined up to see Star Wars on opening weekend in 1977.
http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/21/46/45/4614480/9/920x1240.jpg
There are a lot of non-children there. George Lucas, at some point, decided that Star Wars was entirely targeted at children. He was wrong. From the very beginning, Star Wars has had fans of all ages.