I don’t think its practical in a computer age to expect kids to entertain themselves by reading. Some do, and that’s great, but most don’t. I think kids should be allowed to have them on certain conditions. Like if they finish all homework by x then from x-x they can play with it, and if it needs to be taken away for whatever reason then it will be.
An argument that was not brought up here is cost, and these things usually run up a tab.