Kids Are Allergic To The Outdoors

I am a father of a 11 year old boy and I have come to the conclusion that with the invention of the internet, PSP and Cartoon Network our kids have lost the ability to imagine life without these things. When I was his age I was sent outside and told not to come back in until Dinner or to check back in every hour or so until it started getting dark. This gave my mom time to clean up and prepare dinner without a busy young kid on her heals all day. She also knew that this would teach me responsibility because I had to stay out of trouble and harms way, how to use my imagination because an idol mind is the devil's workshop and I kept the devil unemployed as much as possible and lastly friendship because I would hang out and roam about with a small group of friends doing "kid" things like exploring, building forts in the woods, catching crayfish and minnows in the creek, playing with matches, throwing rocks, chasing squirrels, pretending to be ninjas and other mischievous activities. I got my share of bumps, scrapes and bruises, wore out the knees and muddied up my share of Lee jeans and my sneakers had the mouth on the front to prove I was ripping and running all over the place every chance I could get. When I got home I would take off my "play" clothes and jump in the tub. Again my imagination was ongoing so I remember as an only child I used to have a quirky personality. I always tested the boundaries and would do things that would land me dangerously on the verge of a butt whoopin just to see how far the outer limits would take me. I remember in the tub I would play a game where I would slide forward and back slightly and after a few times the water would be rocking like the ocean or better yet almost spilling out of the tub. Now I might have been a weirdo because this was so cool to me but would often land me in trouble because I got the floor soaking wet. All in all it was fun and just seemed more fun than just sitting there counting the tiles on the side of the wall. When I was a little boy we had Saturday morning cartoons and in retrospect I think this was invented so that mom and dad could sleep in while the little ones were preoccupied with the Super Friends, Road Runner and Bugs Bunny. It was a time to get inspiration for what was to come later that day after a big bowl of cereal of course. I would watch the superheroes and then "become" them later on outside at play. Cartoons and access to fun things were moderate back then. But now Cartoons are on 24-7 and the video game is so "real" kids don't wanna swing a bat or catch a football, they want to swing a Wii control and press the controller on Madden 2009. Don't get me wrong I played Atari and Nintendo till my hands hurt but it was after I came inside from playing or if I went to my friends house for a sleepover.
I have to force my son to go outside on a hot day. He just walks around like a zombie as if to say "Where am I?", "What is this thing called "Outside"?" And the boy is terrified of insects and non domesticated animals.
The imagination is the true "Last and Final Frontier" and I feel each generation is losing real estate because of the lack of imagination being used. So if you are out there and you have kids or know kids that are imagination-challenged or Allergic to the outdoors please give me your feedback.