I'm 49 and even guys 10-15 years younger than me with kids of their own say the same. Not just sad, its scary. It shows this change in trend is kind of exponential. There is a flipside to it, however. Back when I was that age lots of us had dirt bikes and/or pellet rifles...and some of us were very destructive with those things. Wildlife suffered and so did other natural features. It was so typical for early teens to go around slaughtering harmless black snakes, etc, and tearing up general habitats. I really saw a fluctuation in the number of species of various creatures. Species I saw all the time in the 70's and 80's became rare in the 90's. Then home video game consoles took over and soon after the internet followed suit. So when I began to work as a surveyor/soil tester in the early 2000's and spend alot of time outdoors, I began to see some of these things creep back without so many kids wreaking havoc in the woods. It seems to be reaching a balance, where some kids indulge in both types of activity, and where environmentalism is making a strong stand in the media.
One thing that is mysterious is the spread of ticks throughout the northeast. When I was a kid they were almost non-existent. Now you cant even go for a walk in the woods in June without bringing home a few in your waistband. My wife is apprehensive about letting our 12 year old romp around outdoors unsupervised now because of that. I hate it, but I dont fully disagree. I have had Lyme disease at least twice and have been treated many times after countless tick bites over the last 20 years. That's enough to reduce the number of humans trapesing nonchalantly through the woods, and some places have become real jungles where youd need a BIG lawnmower to go. So places like that where people used to go may be becoming so tick infested and overgrown with prickers that they are nearly inaccessible without some forestry skills. I lived in the boonies from 1985 - 1994 and never had a tick on me then, ever.