Technology and our kids

A few months ago I read an article that discussed the effects of handheld devices on children and ever since we have restricted the use of handheld devices for our kids.  No more iphones or ipads.  At first they were upset but within a day they had forgotten about it and went about their day.  Now they don't even ask about it.
Honestly, it is SO nice to not have them plugged into something.  They are using all of their toys. They are using their imaginations more and more.  They're playing TOGETHER more.  It's exactly what I hoped it would be.

On Friday I went to a meeting at Gavin's school where they informed us parents of all the resources available to help our kids in math and reading.  All of these resources were online "games"/lessons that the kids could use on an iphone/ipad or on a computer.  I was flabbergasted at the enthusiasm of the teacher talking about how great this is for kids and "since they're on the ipad anyway, it might as well be something educational" was the message.  The assistant principal even said that her third grade daughter is using these apps as justification for why she should get an iphone for herself and that she (Asst Principal) was actually thinking about it-- to which at least there was a consensus in the crowd that she should not.  It was a room full of privileged families who were kind of bragging about all the devices that their kids had (another parent of a 3rd grader said their kids have their own kindles).
I was the only parent who expressed concern at the amount of time the kids are spending in front of a screen.  I was told that these are not required and would not affect Gavin in any way if we chose not to use them.  I was called the "old-school" parent for the rest of the meeting because I prefer my child read a real book rather than on a screen.
I'm still shocked over the whole thing and feel like I'm living in a different universe than everyone else.  No one cares about the research.  No one cares about the long term effects. I swear some parents were so excited that the teachers were literally encouraging them to put the kids in front of the screen as soon as they got home.  We were taught how to pause the lessons so the kids can go have dinner and return to them after dinner without losing any of the data.  It was the "green light" to plug your kids in at home.
I can see the usefulness of these types of programs for the older children or perhaps a child who is a little behind on reading/math and the games would get them excited about learning. But for my child, I know that this is a slippery slope and I don't want to go down that road just yet.  They will read on real paper for as long as I can control it and do real math manipulatives that they can feel and move around with their hands, not a cursor.
I've seen what "screen time" does to my kids and now that I finally got them off of it, I'm not going back just yet.  I am the OLD SCHOOL parent and I'm proud of that.