The ancient Spartans were glad to treat their children harshly. If augmentation had been available to them they might have done it to their children willingly and the children may have been happy about it.

Morality is subjective in my opinion parent's don't own their kids and what was done to them offends my sensibilities but I am a product of my culture.

For me the monstrous part of what the UNSC did was that they broke the social contract. They STOLE kids from their parents. The UNSC civ seems broken even by it's own standards. In ancient Spartan terms it's too soft ;-)