Dragonblade
Adventurer
Your assumptions are out of whack. In 3.5 the d8 becomes the average damage die for a CR2 creature. At first level, damage dice are more typically d3-d4. And sure, make the goal be that a front line fighter can stand up to five such hits but a not any PC, not the squishy wizard, as well. He can go down in one or two (note: go down, not necessarily die).
Then teach your newbie players that smart teamwork is guaranteed to help them achieve their goal of being heroic and cool.
I manage the expectations of new players on a regular basis and I assure you that your final paragraph has no basis in fact.
A single orc with a sword does d8 damage without accounting for a strength mod or anything else. That's a CR 1 challenge, I'm pretty sure. But its been a while since I played 3e. I avoid 3e monster math and the CR system like the plague. It's totally broken.
I have introduced newbies to the game before and watched other people introduce them. I completely disagree. Especially in the case of someone learning the game on their own without veteran's influencing their experience of the game.
More often than not, I hear "I tried D&D once and I wanted to play a wizard, but I only had 1 spell and then I got hit once and died. It sucked. I don't really see why you like it so much."