I agree with you on some points and yes the technology age has gotten out of hand, with our dependency on them. However, it is not the technology or the teenager or 20 something adult, it is the parent that raised them.
I have been a parent through the age when not everyone had a cell phone to the age now when everyone does. My oldest son is 27 and my youngest is 5 months. My 27 year old is addicted to video games, but he is also a responsible father, husband, and a infantry soldier in the Army that has served 3 tours in war areas. Two of which he volunteered to go. He understands responsibility, commitment, and building a relationship, because we, as his parents, taught him. The same with the rest of our children. My 17 year old was becoming to engrossed in her cell phone and receiving and sending 100's of texts a day and we took her phone. We told her to call her friends, meet up with them, go do something fun. They all went shopping and now they plan activities and go phoneless.
Parents have to be their child's guide. They have to be their anchor. The person that sets the boundaries. Not their friend.
As for technology, I happen to be completely in love with it, because it has given my Autistic son a voice. It gave him the ability to learn his numbers and letters at 3 1/3. He is now teaching himself how to potty, to read, another language. He was bored and was not being challenged, technology challenges him.
I tried the traditional way of teaching with him; flash cards, singing, trace his letters, counting on my hands, counting steps, objects, etc. He would zone out or I couldn't get him to sit. Now we understand he is technology driven Autistic learner. Does he sit with a tablet 24/7 no, we have word time, outside time, etc. He is on his tablet more than my other children and that is because it is way of communicating and pushing himself. Technology is not the problem it is the lack of good role models.
As for a comment someone posted of a 8 year old boy walking in a not so good neighborhood playing on an iPad. I see that all the time without the technology. Parents allowing their kindergartner to walk home from the bus alone, because they don't feel like coming and getting them. My husband and I were driving home and three kids were walking along the highway at 10pm with no adult. They were maybe 10. Again, it is the parents, not the child or their technology. Plus, this was happening when I first became a parent and when I was a kid.
To be a strict parent or a parent that hovers is a mark against you. You are not respected for it or admired you are critized. You are told you are doing a disservice to your child. Your child will be needy and a baby when they are an adult. Well I have raised my children, as their parent not their friend, I have set restrictions and boundaries, I have limited friend contacts that were not good for them, I know what they do 24/7 and yes I do. I have now raised 4 children that are loving, responsible, educated, intelligent, hard working, dependable, and respectful. Two are self sufficient with families of their own, one is in college, and the other is on her way. My next two are also straight A students and well on their way to college. One wants to design video games and the other wants to fly rescue helicopters for the Coast Guard.
I am not saying I am the best parent in the world, I am not saying my way is the best.I am not saying I have all the answers or the magic formula. I am just telling you what works for me and how I see the world. This is just my opinion.