Ah, so it sounds like more of a traditional ritual or ceremony of sorts... 

[And that they're trained so much for them, that the mentality is so much a part of their lives, certainly explains how she can be so accepting of the whole thing. Still it's troubling. The whole idea, whenever it comes up, unsettles him like nothing else.]

...Wait, wait, this whole thing is on tv? They broadcast a bunch of kids fighting and... dying, like a reality tv show?