Our youth and the internet. (Pros and cons)

Over the last few years I've witnessed this younger generation almost being possessed in a sense to the internet and technology in general. We have 5 year old children walking around with hand held devices and i-pads here in the US, and I'm interested to hear what people think about children being subjected to technology at such a young age, and whether or not it should be permitted by parents. Although there are benefits of internet use, such as for school research and study, I believe there are more downfalls. When I see a group of young teenagers sitting down in public together, all plugged into their i-phones not communicating with one another, that's an issue to me. We are declining socially and have lost the sense of real-life dialog with one another. Furthermore, they are free to surf the web and view all sorts of wicked things, even right under the nose of parents. I believe it is robbing them of their childhood, not to mention it is corrupting their young minds. I'm 38, and I can say that I had a great and active childhood. I was always outside playing, engaging in sports, and relied on creativity with friends to challenge ourselves. I don't feel at all cheated for not having these devices that today's youth have, but rather blessed and grateful for not having them. However, I'm concerned about our youth nonetheless. What do y'all think about this issue?