Are video games ruining our society?

I’m sure I’m not the first person that has brought this suggestion up and since I have young children and a first-hand experience I can say it….Video games are ruining our children! Before you start typing your negative comments below let me say this. I have and do (rarely) play video games and my children have multiple systems so I’m not being hypocritical when I make these statements. I make these statement based on my experiences as a child compared to the children and teens of today. I am 36 now and when I was a teen we played kickball, football, soccer, baseball, hide-n-seek…games like SPUD! handball, etc. Why is it that when I drive by houses now i rarely, if ever, see kids outside playing. If they are not inside playing video games they are online or watching cable tv (which I also didn’t have until I was 16 or 17). I’m trying not to be the, “back in my day” guy, BUT back in my day we invented games to play or we went out and climbed trees. Yes, I grew up in the country where we had trees, but I also went into town and played ball in the neighbors yard with all the neighbor kids.
My fear is that our kids today are growing up watching cable tv, playing COD, and chatting online via Facebook while missing out in the experience of making new friends during a neighborhood game of tag. Our children are growing up lazy and we can see that now in many of the teens now who have forgotten what the term “work” means. Maybe I’m being harsh and I’d love to hear many of your comments below. I’m sure many of you are video age and may have differing opinions. What do you think?