You're not really understanding my point.Its not playing with a phone. Its the information IN the phone that is more powerful than. anything you can teach.
As for social aspect. I am talking to you from across the world. If you're social, you'll simply have all your friends in one group chat and be even more social because now you can talk to them online after you all go home. And if you're a hermit, never before have we seen the autistic be able to have friends now because they can find a social forum with like minded people as opposed to the last where after school they go home and watch tv.
I suggest you all watch elon musk's interview on joe rogan, you might be able to find just the portion where he talks about us being cyborgs present day due to this tool we have in our pockets. I believe the section is called A.I. put that in the search. He goes into detail how in the future we may actually be connecting the web to our cortex direct and various other tech they are working on. He goes on about how some think this is backwards (remember when the TV first came out parents said the same) but that this will launch the human race's data gathering exponentially. People will have a choice, but those stuck in the old ways might as well be considered bush men.
And honestly, from my perspective, I'm talking about a 20 month old toddler. She doesn't need to have access a tablet or phone regularly. The information and the learning videos can be casted to my TV (Simple Learning Youtube is great channel to use for little kids) where she can have her toys in the living room as the videos play on the TV.
I'm not even arguing about how technology can be used as tool for learning. Hell, my daughter loves when I change the colors of my lights around the house with voice commands and even tries to mimic me to activate our Google Home to change them herself. I'm far from denouncing technology or tech advancement. With children, I feel like things should be used in moderation. I also feel that while social media and the internet has changed how we all communicate and socialize with others, there still is something to be said about the fundamental skill of communicating and speaking to people in person.
A lot of people can articulate how they feel behind a keyboard, but are terrified to get up in front of a group of people and just... talk. It's to the point now, where people who actually know how to speak well in person will be commodities. I'd rather raise a generation of people who have the "fundamentals" for social interaction down first rather than them valuing digital/virtual interaction more.