It really does worry me that this generation and those in future could have developmental or behavioural issues because of the sheer amount of time spent on such devices.
All of my friends kids (8 and under, most under 5) are glued to tablets from the minute they get home from school til the time they go to bed. It's not uncommon to read comments from them how they get blanked as the kids are so engrossed in them. Staring at a screen, and that close up, surely cannot be good for vision. I got prescribed glasses for computer use because of eye strain caused by the lit screen, are we setting kids up for bad eye sight?
With the majority of these devices hooked up to the internet, kids have access to so much stuff that's massively age inappropriate and yet none of the parents i know utilise parental controls on them. Even then, half the stuff on youtube gets past the age restrictions, so youtube should be banned altogether unless the parent has pre watched anything the child is allowed to watch.
Games consoles have massively taken over too, when i was a kid there were handhelds like game boys, and you played for an hour and that was it, because they ran on battery and you couldn't just sit and play for hours. The playstation didn't come out til i was about 8. They were more relatively expensive than todays consoles, and it was a "treat" to be allowed to play for an hour every other night. Then of course gaming went online too, and along came the mad rush of who could be the best, who got there fastest, etc, which bred he sitting on it for hours and hours straight culture. Of course the games that get all the hype are games like call of duty and GTA, that are rated 18, but kids as young as 10 are playing them. Being multiplayer you're thrown into random lobbies of other players too, and they can say absolutely anything to you, swearing, abuse, threats etc.
I grew up with no Sky/Virgin TV etc, just channels 1-5, no internet til i was 15, only had a cheap pay as you go text and calls only phone from 12 for emergencies, didn't have a smart phone til i was 18 and payed for my own contract. I played outside or round my friends house evenings and weekends, playing board games, ball games, and imagination based games like playing house. Games consoles were played on occasion, not routinely, and i'm genuinely sad at how times have changed to what it is now, all technology based.
Parents should take control of what they give their kids access to. A tablet for entertainment purposes for a child aged under 10 is ridiculous, as is a smartphone under the age of 13/14. By all means have a child friendly tablet (cheap version) for educational apps and games, but limit the usage to an hour or two max a night. If you buy a console you buy age appropriate games, you don't give a 12 year old GTA and call of duty. If they have pocket money and get someone to buy them an age inappropriate game, TAKE IT OFF THEM. Cheap top up phones can be bought for just calls and texts which is all a child needs for emergencies. Keep the family computer/laptop in the main family room so you can monitor what they do on it and limit their usage to an hour or two a night. Spend time playing good old fashioned board games, reading, socialising together.