You bet Pete, there's nothing wrong with either the 30-30 or the 44 mag, both have been used extensively on medium size game with good effect. For survival I would favor the shorter barrel; more portable.

One thing to keep in mind, if you are getting a firearm that will be used by novice shooters, a lever action is not as easy to operate as a bolt action generally. While most people understand the basics of a lever gun, some of the safety features can be a bit troublesome, especially for smaller/weaker hands. We've had kids in class as young as 8 years of age that can effectively shoot the 243 in a bolt action, and I am sure they could manage the 7/08 just as well.

I don't think there's a bad choice if you consider the intended use well. Even the 22 lr is an effective round for survival, as many will attest to here. So long as you keep in mind the limitations the round and the gun will have, you won't make a mistake. Someone was once quoted as saying "use the biggest, most powerful cartridge you can manage", and that is a fairly important statement, for it does not matter how powerful the cartridge is if you can't hit anything shooting it.