I was writing this long comment, go into the kitchen and come back to find it disappeared...wow. Anyway. I grew up in a house with an Atari with exactly three games to play. I played PacMan until my fingers had blisters on it...Yeah, we played outdoors, because my mother made us. Or when friends came to ask if we'd come out and play. We'd bring the dogs to protect us from harm (that was something my parents insisted on and it was also a work-out for the dogs). The only difference with now is that we didn't have smart-phones with us at that time...

Since I've been homeschooling (unschooling) my kids, I've been worried too about their use of electronics. However, I realized it was a worry instilled by society. Because society and yes, the media, tells us that it's a bad thing to let our kids play games or be online as much as they do, it must be so. Now, I am thinking: maybe society and media (so the people in charge) are afraid of how our kids are evolving. They're figuring things out on their own. If they are in school and they're wondering about something the teacher has said, they can go online and find their own truths. This wasn't the case when I grew up, we had books that were written by people who couldn't be questioned because there was no comparative material. Now there is.

I am not worried anymore, because my son for instance is very clear about what he wants to do. Of course, this can change, but at the moment, he wants to become a professional gamer and also develop games. I encourage him and know that he will need practice for that. And because it's his passion, he's getting pretty darn good at it.
All those pro gamers better watch out for my boy!

If I want for the kids to go outside, I go with them, and the phone only comes for photos, nothing else.